Clark Magnet had a new family member for some time, and it just so happened to be a tiny crab named Crusty. Biology/Marine Science teacher Dominique Evans-Bye was the proud owner of this stowaway crab after discovering its hidden location on Oct. 28 while teaching her class about ocean acidification. However, after a brief stay in the teacher’s room, he tragically passed away on Oct. 31.

“I needed to do a demonstration for the class, so I got a sea urchin test from Mrs. Benzer,” Evans-Bye stated as she rummaged through the results of the experiment. “She wanted me to give it back and I said, ‘I’m gonna destroy it because I’m going to put it in acid and watch it dissolve for a demo.’”

Evans-Bye informed Benzer that she would acquire replacement sea urchin skeletons on an upcoming field trip. “So they’re hollow inside and I thought, you know, I got the ones that didn’t have anything in it,” she explained. However, she was certainly wrong about that expectation. While her students were cleaning out the skeletons, they came across a miniscule sea creature.

“It was still alive, so I had them look up online what’s the percentage of salt in seawater and they mixed up a solution,” she said, admiring the transparent container in which Crusty was residing. Evans-Bye was satisfied with her students’ execution of creating a sea-like atmosphere, including the placement of algae for which Crusty can nibble upon.

Crusty had been settled into Evans-Bye’s room used for her biology classes for a couple of days until he was mysteriously stolen. A few days after his absence, he was returned to the classroom only to be found dead in his container. Sadly, he was not fed during the entirety of his disappearance, which led to his unfortunate demise.