Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Atlantic Ghost Crab

Ocypode quadrata

Description:

Adults are greyish or the colour of straw, and approximately 5 centimetres (2 in) wide at maturity.They must return to water periodically in order to moisten their gills, and when larvae must be released into the sea, but are otherwise terrestrial.Their stalked compound eyes can swivel to give them 360° vision. Young crabs are cryptically coloured to blend in with their sandy habitat.

Habitat:

A species of ghost crab, once described as an "occult, secretive alien from the ancient depths of the sea".[2] It is a common species along the Atlantic coast of the United States, where it is the only species of ghost crab;[3] its range of distribution extends from its northernmost reach on Rhode Island's beaches south along the coasts of the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean to the beach of Barra do Chui, in Rio Grande do Sul in Southern Brazil.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

ChrisBurkett
Spotted by
ChrisBurkett

Carolina Beach, North Carolina, USA

Spotted on Jul 17, 2012
Submitted on Aug 8, 2012

Spotted for Mission

Related Spottings

Ghost crabs Cangrejo fantasma (Horned ghost crab) Cangrejo fantasma (Painted ghost crab) Ghost crab

Nearby Spottings

Willet Atlantic Blue Crab Boat-tailed Grackle Laughing Gull
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team