"Claws"

"Claws": "'Claws'
Friday, May 26, 2006

He'd make a nifty sci-fi horror flick lead character: a colossal spiny 'monster' crawls from the deep to take revenge on humans for thousands of years of culinary torture. He's a 10-legged arthropod with a bad attitude and nasty claws -- and he's looking for you! Meet Homarus americanus, the lobster. The Oregon Coast Aquarium's newest exhibit explores the adaptation and remarkable diversity of crabs, lobsters, shrimp, barnacles, isopods and copepods (these last two are the smaller crustaceans mostly eaten by large fish and whales). The wide variety of crustaceans offers plenty to see and do at the aquarium. Interactive displays will explain movement, claw strength and how shrimp 'see.' Others talk about growth, the molting cycle and the uses of the exoskeleton. Colorful graphics and audiovisual media will help visitors understand the importance of these invertebrates to humans -- crabbing is an especially important industry in Newport -- and to the marine food chain. Opening-day events include crafts, face-painting, a live remote broadcast by Radio Disney and crab-dance lessons. Opens 9 a.m. Saturday, through summer 2007, during aquarium hours of 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily (through Labor Day), 2820 S.E. Ferry Slip Road, Newport; $7-$12; www.aquarium.org, 541-867-3474.

-- Rosemarie Stein"