Juvenile Ghost Crabs are small and extremely well-camouflaged. It is fun to sit quietly and watch them come out of their holes. They are very sensitive to motion, any movement will send them racing to the safety to their burrow in a split second.
Navarre Beach, FL July 28, 2009 These little white crabs exit their holes in the sand at dusk to scavenge and filter feed each evening. They are very skittish and quickly run back to their burrows if they feel threatened. I had to stand very still to get this shot with my telephoto lens. When I moved slowly to get a better angle, the crab retreated into its hole and I didn't see it again. The burrows can go as deep as 4 feet, so it would be difficult to try to dig a crab out! Note how the eyes are on stalks. When the crab is in its burrow, the eyes swivel down and fit into the hollow areas of the shell.
These holes and sandballs were made by Fiddler Crabs. The large balls were made during excavation of the hole, the small ones were made during feeding. The crabs roll balls of sand in front of their mouth to extract bits of organic material to eat. The beach can be covered by these small balls of sand at low tide. The tunnel in the upper right corner was made by a mole cricket.
