Sanibel Sea School Blog
Crabs of the Night
Have you ever walked along the beach and spotted random holes scattered up near the dunes? Maybe you’ve been out at dawn, dusk, or even at night, and you’ve spotted a tiny white creature darting around the holes. What you have stumbled upon, my fellow beachcomber, is none other than… a ghost crab burrow!
Atlantic ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata) are true crabs found along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States. They are tannish-white and can reach up to 2 inches in size at maturity. Their coloring and nocturnality give them their name. Ghost crabs are extremely quick walkers, disappearing in the blink of an eye. In fact, ghost crabs are known as the fastest terrestrial crabs, as they can reach up to 10 mph and cover 100 times their body length in a matter of seconds.
These crazy crabs live in burrows on the beach, which can be dug up to 4 feet deep! Younger ghost crabs tend to build their burrows closer to the shoreline, while adults can build theirs as far as 400 meters from the coastline. Ghost crabs do need to stay near the ocean as they need the water to survive. Periodically, these crabs need to immerse themselves in water to moisten their gills and breathe. However, they do have special hairs (setae) on their legs that allow them to wick up moisture from the sand surrounding them, supplying their gills with oxygen.
The best time to see these crabs is at night when they’re active and feeding. Ghost crabs are omnivorous scavengers that feed on mole crabs, clams, vegetation, and even sea turtle hatchlings. They spend most of the day inside their burrows to avoid the hot sun and predators.
The next time you go out to the beach, go at night and check out these fascinating ghost crabs. As they run across the sand into the darkness, you’ll see just why they get their cool name!
Contributing Author: Annie Clinton
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