SAND CRABS, GHOST CRABS, AND FIDDLER CRABS

SAND CRABS

IN THE SUMMER ON LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ, YOU CAN SIT ALONG THE WATERS EDGE AND DIG FOR SAND CRABS...........ARE THEY REAL CRABS? THEY DON'T PINCH !

THESE LITTLE ANIMALS ARE CALLED ATLANTIC MOLE CRABS. THEY ARE NOT TRUE CRABS, BUT THEY ARE CLOSELY RELATED. THEY ARE COMPLETELY HARMLESS.

THEY CAN NOT PINCH, BITE, OR STING SO THEY ARE LOTS OF FUN ON THE BEACH.

EVEN THOUGH THEIR REAL NAME IS ATLANTIC MOLE CRABS, MOST PEOPLE CALL THEM SAND CRABS. THEY GROW TO BE 1 1/2 INCHES LONG, THESE ARE THE FEMALES, THE MALES ONLY GROW ABOUT 1/2 INCH. THEY HAVE FAT SHORT LEGS TO DIG IN THE SAND. THEY DO NOT MOVE SIDEWAYS LIKE THE TRUE CRAB.

GHOST CRAB

GHOST CRABS ALSO CALLED SAND CRABS, ARE CRABS OF GENUS OCYPODE, COMMON SHORE CRABS IN MANY COUNTRIES. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GENUS INCLUDE ONE CLAW BEING LARGER THAN THE OTHER, BUT THIS DIFFERENCE IS NOT AS MARKED AS IN MALE FIDDLER CRABS.

THE ATLANTIC MARSH FIDDLER CRAB (UCA PUGRAX)

THE FIDDLER CRAB IS A COMMON CRAB OF THE MID-ATLANTIC AND NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. MARSH FIDDLERS DIG BURROWS IN THE MUDDY OR SANDY BANKS OF SALT MARSHES, WHICH THEY USE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM PREDATORS, HIGH TIDE, AND EXTREME TEMPERATURES. THEY FEED BY FILTERING DETRITUS OUT OF MUD, AND DEFEND THEIR BURROWS AGAINST OTHER FIDDLER CRABS.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.................................................................................RIZZI