Grace Richards
Mrs. Cook Science
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Ghost Crab
Ocypode quadrata
The Atlantic Ghost Crab can be found on coastal beaches from Rhode Island to Brazil. It can be recognised by its small, square, sand colored body and distinctive white claws. The Ghost Crab is classified in the Domain Eukaryote, the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum Arthropoda, the Class Malacostraca, and the Order Decapoda. It is in the Family Ocypodidae, the Genus Ocypode, and the Species quadrata. Ghost Crabs have Bilateral Symmetry, which means that they can be cut once in half down their middle and be equal on both sides. They are also Ectothermic, or cold-blooded. One of a Ghost Crab’s behavioral adaptations is that it flattens its body against the sand when a predator comes, making it virtually invisible because of its similar coloring to the sand (a structural adaptation). A functional adaptation is that it hibernates in burrows in the sand. Ghost Crabs are heterotrophic, eating small insects, algae, detritus, and the eggs and hatchlings of loggerhead sea turtles. An interesting fact about Ghost Crabs is that they make 3 sounds: when they strike their claws against the ground, when they rub their legs together, and a bubbling sound.
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