Funky ghost crabs
Ghost crabs in Malaysia are colourful.
While in Cherating, Malaysia, I went to the beach early one morning to watch the sun come up on the horizon. I selected an isolated spot that had a good vantage point, and sat down to wait for dawn. As the sky gently grew brighter, I was able to see more and more of my surroundings, and I noticed lots of activity on the sand. There were dozens of ghost crabs scurrying every which way. From my perspective, I could see they were different from the species common to North and South America: the Cherating crabs had longer eye stalks and darker pigmentation. I have always thought that ghost crabs have been unfairly maligned as turtle predators. Sure, they take a few eggs and hatchlings, but they are an important part of the beach eco-system (a topic already discussed in another blog). They also can be used as an index of anthropogenic disturbance of a beach (see this paper). In Suriname I was told that if you kill enough ghost crabs in a single night, rain showers would ensue, although I was never able to conclusively verify this.
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Comments
That explains all those thundershowers while I am at Wassaw.....
Posted by: Heather | April 22, 2003 12:09 PM
WHAT DO U FEED A GHOST CRAB??
Posted by: Heather | August 25, 2003 06:08 PM
Probably just about anything.... some old fish, a dead seabird, discarded hamburgers, you name it, they will probably eat it.
Posted by: Matthew | August 26, 2003 10:26 PM
Regular Ghost Crabs can also be found in delaware!
Posted by: Rae | November 19, 2003 07:20 PM
how large do ghost crabs get and are they edible?
How do the ghost crabs usally breath...like through what part of there body!
Posted by: chrissy | February 17, 2004 10:00 AM
crabs are like so cool hi devon
Posted by: zack | February 26, 2004 03:02 PM
crabs are like so cool hi devon
Posted by: zack | February 26, 2004 03:02 PM
CSEP and freedom rule
right devon
Posted by: Freedom | February 26, 2004 03:05 PM
Sorry about the other stuff that wasn't me that was my friend messing aroud under my name but ghost crabs ccan grow to be about 50 mm but some can be larger and I am not sure but I don't think you can eat them I will try to find out I also donot know how they breath but I will try to find that out I will also post some good ghost crab websites but for then visit my website at www.freewebs.com/csep it doesn't have any thing to do with ghost crabs but I wantmore visitors
Posted by: zack | February 26, 2004 07:19 PM
Ghost crabs breathe by getting their gills wet, and then they just breathe like fish. They have to get their gills wet at least 2 times a day.
Posted by: guguguguyg | October 20, 2005 06:31 PM
I am doing a report on Ghost Crabs
Posted by: Nate | October 26, 2005 11:13 AM
I'm working on a research project and i was just wondering if (and how long) ghost crabs can survive underwater. i'm looking to monitor their oxygen uptake with varying salinity. thanks
Posted by: Jenna | October 27, 2005 03:39 PM