Monday, September 20, 2010

Giant Prawn Harvest Part One


"From the depths of Hell I strike at thee, human!"

Yesterday, I bit the bullet and harvested a few of my prawns for a taste test.



These guys are pretty fascinating.

They are so cool and with such amazing architecture. Just think of the DNA coding and cellular obedience that must take place for such a multifaceted creature to exist.
It's a bit mind boggling.
But,
... they are predators too and would gladly consume me if I laid still in their tank for long enough, so all's fair ...
Still, after nurturing them from postlarvae, eating them was not a step to be taken lightly.


4 uropods separated by a telson.
Ahhh, ... symmetry.



In the end, I captured about 9 shrimp, 4 bigguns for the taste test (we were having tilapia so 4 was enough) and 5 for a return to the classroom tank.
They are a big hit back in the classroom.
The students have been amazed all day by the giant shrimp patrolling the post summer,empty tank in my room.
Alas, they are only seeing 4 of the intended 5 prawns ... they are quite the predators and only a small piece of #5 was left this morning in the "pen".

Some of the remaining smaller prawns in my RAS should now react to the loss of a bunch of alpha male blue claws by becoming that very thing themselves.


Bear was just a little curious about the live prawns when I took them inside.
This curiosity soon changed to crazed barking and leaping about, so his "nose to rostrum" time with a prawn was cut short.

Tomorrow ... a short prawny video, cooked prawns, and the final exam.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The shrimp looks good and hope to eat some equally tasty things in Cedar Key with you and Mrs. FC next month! Has Thunder converted you into trying/tasting everything?
Lightnin

Dani said...

Bear is the biggest cutie!

threecollie said...

Pretty amazing there. I can just imagine how much the students enjoy them.
And the word verification is "aligatuf" which seems fitting somehow.

Sharon said...

LOL, love Bear's expression :)

Miz S said...

They look like they are straight off a spaceship. I will welcome our Prawn Overlords when they conquer the Earth, in the hopes that they keep me alive to perform menial tasks for them.

lisa said...

I'll be right down;) Tilapia and shrimp sure sounds good to me!

Thunder said...

I'm with Sharon the look on Bear's face is great, it's like: "What the heck is that?"

Carol said...

Will we get a video on how to prepare them for cooking? They look great.

LaDivaCucina said...

Dang! Dem scrimpies are huge! I love their cool blue tones.

R.Powers said...

Lightnin,
Sounds good!

Dani,
Truly, he is!

3C,
Great verification!

Sharon,
He always looks half crazed in a photo.
... which IS pretty accurate I guess.


Miz S,
'IT'S A COOKBOOK!!!"


Lisa,
We held some back for ya.


Dave,
That's exactly what he said.

Carol,
Well, a short video on collecting them.


La Diva,
Huge and beautiful.