Atlantic Blue Crab
Callinectes sapidus
Painted Ghost Crab
Ocypode gaudichaudii
About
The painted ghost crab is a fast, colourful crab that dashes across Pacific beaches, digging burrows to escape the heat and the tide.
Also known as: cart driver crab
How to tell it apart
Other ghost crabs are pale and sand-coloured, but this species stands out with its red-orange carapace and speckled pattern.
Appearance
This crab has a red-orange carapace covered in small sandy dots, giving it a mottled, sand-like look. Adults grow larger claws, with one side developing a broad, flattened tip used for digging.
Habitat
Painted ghost crabs live on sandy beaches on the Pacific coast, from Central America down to Chile, as well as on the Galápagos Islands. They dig burrows in the sand above the waterline and move down to the tideline as it recedes.
Did you know?
Painted ghost crabs run so much that their bodies work more like a mammal's during exercise, drawing on oxygen efficiently instead of the sluggish response seen in most crabs.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
