It was not easy to get a ghost crab in front to my camera, these little creatures were way to fast and tricky. This fellow came back up and disappeared quickly as soon as it saw me - we had a sort of hide and seek situation together.
Ghost crabs,
also called
sand crabs, are
crabs of the genus
Ocypode, common shore
crabs in many countries. Characteristics of the genus include one claw being larger than the other, but this difference is not as marked as in male
fiddler crabs.
These
crabs are called
ghosts because they are
translucent, and because of their ability to disappear from sight almost instantly, scuttling at speeds up to 10
miles per hour, while making sharp directional changes. These creatures have two black
eyes, with very good 360° vision.
The ghost crab tunnels down four feet into the ground at a 45° angle, creating 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) wide holes, which speckle the beach. At dusk, these crabs will sprint to the ocean in order to obtain
oxygen from the water which washes over their
gills, and in the beginning of the summer, females will release their
eggs into the
ocean.
In the south eastern
United States,
Ocypode quadrata is frequently seen scurrying along beaches between
sunset and
dawn.
The common ghost crab or smooth-handed ghost crab (
Ocypode cordimana) is found on the northern
Australian coast from the
Kimberley region of Western Australia to
New South Wales, being particularly common in New South Wales. It is also found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Hi my friends,
Thank you for all the wonderful comments in the last few days. Here on my blog or over there on my
Facebook, it doesn't matter, I have enjoyed every single one very much.
I have some "homework" to do today and that includes also all that household stuff like laundry and cleaning... what I really don't like to much... Well, it has to be done, let's start with now, get over it :)
I wish you a wonderful and perfect day!
Susanne
