Atlantic Ghost Crab
Atlantic Ghost Crab
Atlantic Ghost Crab is a semi terrestrial crab and breathe oxygen from the air through moistened gills. They are called Atlantic Ghost crabs because they are swift runners at a speed of 10 miles per hour. They like disappearing into their tunnels in the sand if they detect the slightest movement made by a potential predator or another sign of danger.
In Guadeloupe Archipelago, the ghost crab is called Crabe Mal Zoreille and the Latin name is Ocypode quadrata from the Ocypodidae family.
Description
Atlantic Ghost Crabs have elongated and swollen eye stalks with very large corneas on the bottom half. They have the ability to see completely from all 360 degree angles simultaneously. Their carapaces are deep and square-shaped with straight or slightly curving sides.
Most Atlantic ghost crabs have white greyish or yellow bodies that blend in well with the sand. Indeed, they are capable of gradually changing body colouration to match their environments and the time of day.
Geographical Zones
Atlantic Ghost Crabs are common species living in the Atlantic coast of the United States. You can find them on Rhode Island’s beaches (USA), in southern Brazil (Barra do Chui and Rio Grande do Sul beaches) and in the Greater & Lesser Antilles.
Habitat
Atlantic Ghost crab or Crabe Mal Zoreille is a crustacean living in sandy beaches in Guadeloupe Archipelago. This crustacean digs deep burrows that are three to four feet in depth. It must periodically wet its gills with seawater, usually by taking water from moist sand or by running into the surf and letting the waves wash over it but it cannot swim.
It remains in its burrows during the hottest part of the day and is predominantly nocturnal to escape usual predator such as birds or small mammals.
Food
Atlantic Ghost Crabs are omnivorous and eat other species of crabs, lizards, clams, insects, plant material and detritus.
Reproduction and life cycle
Mating can occur throughout the year. Females store the fertilised eggs in their rounded abdominal flaps. While carrying the eggs, they must keep them wet by frequently entering the water. Then the females lay their eggs in the water, where the larva hatch. The larva, also known as zoea, floats freely around in the water.
There are five different stages in the zoea stage and one megalopa stage. Then after two months a full grown adult is created, which is usually two to three inches. The Atlantic Ghost Crab can live up to three years.
