Ghost Crab Distribution, Population, and Habitat They have huge corneas that are found on the eyestalks’ bottom half, and their walking legs are longer than the claws This allows them to move quickly and easily over the sandy beaches where they live.Ĭlose up of yellow ghost crab in Brazil during the day in the sunshine. The horns help biologists identify the species. In some of the Ocypode species, the eyestalks are horned or have stiles.

Ghost crabs or sand crabs also have large and long eyestalks. The claws of most ghost crabs also have ridges that allow the animal to produce sounds.

This differentiates them from their cousins the fiddler crabs, where unequal size claws are only found on the males. Two characteristics that identify ghost crabs are that both the males and the females have claws of different sizes. Their name comes not just from their general pallor, but from the fact that they hunt at night. These crabs have a boxy little body, and most species are pale with the exception of species such as O. Ghost Crab Speciesīesides Hoplocypode occidentalis, the species of these crab are: Between these two genera, there are 21 species, though there’s only one species in Hoplocypode, H. There are two genera in the subfamily, Ocypode, and Hoplocypode. Ocypode comes from Greek and means “swift-footed,” which describes the surprisingly fast way these crabs can scuttle over the sand. Ghost crabs are members of the subfamily Ocypodinae, which is found in the Ocypodidae family. Ghost Crab Classification and Scientific name Though they’re small crabs, their larva are among the largest of the crab larvae during the final larval, or megalopa stage.They can change color to blend in with the sand, one of the adaptations that helps them avoid predators.

Ghost cabs can make sounds that include bubbling, stridulation and thumping.

Though they lay eggs in water and need to keep their gills wet, they will drown if they stay in water too long. Though they use eight of their 10 legs to walk normally, at their fastest only the first and second pairs of their walking legs are in play. They can move surprisingly quickly, and the fewer legs they use the faster they are. They can be told from their boxy shape, their sometimes horned eyestalks, and the uneven size of their claws. Ghost crabs are one of the most populous crab species in the world and are found on beaches from Oman to Polynesia to Australia to Florida to Egypt and Greece.