Ghost crabs are iridescent little critters running around on the sandy beaches, scavenging for food like dead fish.
You can find them on both tropical and subtropical shores all over the world. In South Africa, we have three species: the African ghost crab which is a medium-size also found in Mauritania all the way to Namibia; the tufted ghost crab with its tuft of bristles on their eye-stalks; the madagascariensis with their carapace that are covered with tubercles on the top.
These crabs have a boxed-shape carapace, left enlarged nipper and stalked eyes. They love to dig burrows as temporary refuge from danger and believe in one individual per burrow. They enjoy foraging for food in moist sand, feeding on fish and decaying plant debris. Ghost crabs reach breeding age within a year.
This little man was chased by a bunch of children on the beach for about 20 min, till I finally decided to get my son to save this poor crustaceans from his misery.
If you would like to learn more and see this crab in action, follow this link to a very informative and fun video
Video Credit
The ghost crab is too small for consumption and anglers use ghost crabs as bait, in some regions they use it as a supplementary food source in a crab stew and are even considered a delicacy in the form of a 15-crab kebab grilled over a fire. In South Africa ghost crabs are only allowed to be caught by hand and limited to 15 per person per day to ensure sustainability.
Photographs taken with a Nikon L840.
I see these everywhere at night walking along the beach! They would run across shore and then go right back into their hole
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You are lucky axelarator, I only get to see them when on holiday. I can sit and watch them for hours, especially at this one spot where there are about 20 of them doing their thing. My children used to find great joy in the challenge to catch these crabs, when they were much younger and faster, but always released them immediately after so they do not get hurt.
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I wonder how the 15 limitation is controlled effectively.
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They are quite strict in SA and have men walking around in the areas watching that fishermen keep to the law. I am sure you get some chancers like in all else, getting away with taking more.
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That's good. Better than like we have smoking ban in so many places but you still see the cigarette butts on the floor at the places smoking is ban.
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