[/floatr]SMH: Giant crab stuck in quarantine
...When an exhibition of giant crabs opens at Sydney Aquarium today, the star will be conspicuously absent. The Japanese spider crab, the largest crab in the world and ''hero'' of the travelling Claws exhibition, has been unexpectedly delayed in quarantine. Importing a live 15-kilogram crab with a leg span of up to four metres is not an easy task...Aquarium staff are now providing more information as to how the animal will be transported and kept during the exhibition, particularly to ensure larvae development does not contaminate Australian water...Tests for radioactive contamination, a threat posed by the Fukushima nuclear plant leak in the aftermath of the earthquake in March this year, will likely form part of the crab's quarantine. "I don't think we'd be seeing any issues too soon with radioactivity as it depends on when their reproductive cycle is,'' Ms Wilkes said. ''But it's definitely something you want to be careful of"...more...
