Cuban Red Crab

Description:

Four colour morphs exist within the species: black, red, yellow and green.The carapace of G. ruricola grows in width at a rate of about 1 inch (25 mm) per year, with the crabs reaching maturity after 5 years, and living for up to 10 years in total. G. ruricola have a number of adaptations to terrestrial life, mostly regarding water conservation. They are nocturnal, to prevent the hot sun from drying them out. They also have a "nephritic pad", onto which urine is released, in order to be cleaned by microbes before the water is then reabsorbed.

Habitat:

G. ruricola is found across much of the Caribbean, from Cuba and the Bahamas in the west through the Antilles to Barbados in the east. It has been reported from Florida and Nicaragua, but few confirmed examples exist from the mainland; Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas marks the northenmost limit of its island distribution, which extends across the Bahamas and Cuba, through the Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles, to Barbados. Outlying populations exist on Curaçao, in the Swan Islands off Honduras, and in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina off the Colombian coast. It can be found many kilometres from the sea, and at high altitudes: crabs have been observed above 300 metres (980 ft) on the island of Dominica, and at over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) on Jamaica.

Notes:

Maria la Gorda Beach, Cuba was teaming with these red crabs so much so that the roads were literally red from cars running over the crabs during their migration. I definitely had to watch my step.