Soldier Crabs

Mictyris longicarpus

Description:

The Soldier Crab (aka Blue Army Crab) is indigenous to Eastern Australia. Globular body, and the adults have a sky blue carapace. They can grow to more than 25 mm across. Burrows corkscrew-like into intertidal muddy sandflats, and thousands of crabs emerge on falling tide to form characteristic 'armies'. It's one of the most loved crabs in Australia.

Habitat:

The muddy tidal flats of Sandgate, Moreton Bay. These fellows were found at night, and there were thousands of them.

Notes:

Until I disturbed them, these three had a little huddle going. It looked like they were chatting to one another.

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13 Comments

Neil Ross 8 years ago

Cheers, Sunny.

sunnyjosef 8 years ago

Great spotting Niel!!! Congrats..!

Neil Ross 8 years ago

Thanks, Mark. I've seen a few here and there in the past, but nothing like the number I saw on this particular evening. The three in this spotting did stand out though simply because there was enough light to see them :)

Mark Ridgway 8 years ago

Congrats Neil. Yep favourites in Qld.

Neil Ross 8 years ago

Thanks, Michael and Jason. Blue is pretty awesome anywhere. My first time to see a blue crab :)

Jason Alexander 8 years ago

Congratulations Neil! Cool creatures! It's such an amazing to find blue color in animals isn't?

Michael Strydom 8 years ago

Fantastic SOTD :)

Neil Ross 8 years ago

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the SOTD. Lauren, there were thousands of them, but it was so dark and there were so many, I didn't want to take the risk of crushing them. In the shadows, I could faintly make out massive clusters of them, but I just couldn't get close enough for a photo.