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Ocypode quadrata
This little fellow appeared to be about 2 inches wide with a translucent, yellow-greyish body color and dark brown eyes. I noticed the crab's eye swiveling to seemingly give the crab a 360° view of its surroundings. It moved very swiftly and efficiently avoided beachgoers. Fun fact: Atlantic ghost crab burrows can be up to 4 feet deep! Domain: Eukarya Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Infraorder: Brachyura Family: Ocypodidae Genus: Ocypode Species: Ocypode Quadrata
This crab lives on a tourist beach in La Romana, Dominican Republic on a section of the shore that is clear of trash and other debris. It appeared to traverse a 20 by 20-foot span of the sand. Its burrow was located approximately 10 feet back from the waterline. From what I could tell, the crab would go back and forth from its home to the water to wet its gills.
Spotted on Mar 8, 2018
Submitted on Apr 11, 2018
4 Comments
Great series Alexandra,congrats on the well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
Nice one! Congrats, Alexandra.
Thank you very much! I'm excited to learn & share more!
Welcome to Project Noah Alexandra, and congratulations, your
Atlantic Ghost Crab is our Spotting of the Day! We're glad to receive contributions from the Dominican Republic.
"These large compound eyes are the most prominent sensory organ of the Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata), our Spotting of the Day. Ghost crabs (subfamily Ocypodinae) derive their name from their nocturnal habit and their generally pale coloration. Ghost crabs can be used as indicators for measuring the impacts of human presence on sandy on beaches; this is estimated by counting the number of crab burrows""
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