Donald Hobern, Australien
Info
Scopimera inflata are often found in the thousands, moving at great speed, just below the high-water mark of wave-exposed mangrove, mud and sand areas of estuaries and coasts.
These crabs leave a beautiful pattern of tiny hard pellets all over the beach that look like little bubbles, hence the name!
They feed on tiny detritus, mollusks and worms in the shoreline area
These crabs build "hummocks" (small sand balls) around their holes before emerging from the sand at low tide.
They often emerge by the thousands, dropping onto their backs to clear the sand, and then turning around again!
They then organize into armies and run forward (unlike other crabs that run sideways) in a straight line to the water to feed. As they do so, they scoop up sand, sift out the food, and then drop the excess as round, inflated pellets.
After eating, they then burrow back into the sand in a corkscrewing motion to wait for the next tide.
Brachyura crabs are considered true crabs; they have a short abdomen, four walking legs, and a pair of claw-like arms at the front end.
Many thousands of species live worldwide in seawater, freshwater and on land.
Synonyms:
Ocypode (Scopimera) globosa De Haan, 1835 [in De Haan, 1833-1850]
Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858
These crabs leave a beautiful pattern of tiny hard pellets all over the beach that look like little bubbles, hence the name!
They feed on tiny detritus, mollusks and worms in the shoreline area
These crabs build "hummocks" (small sand balls) around their holes before emerging from the sand at low tide.
They often emerge by the thousands, dropping onto their backs to clear the sand, and then turning around again!
They then organize into armies and run forward (unlike other crabs that run sideways) in a straight line to the water to feed. As they do so, they scoop up sand, sift out the food, and then drop the excess as round, inflated pellets.
After eating, they then burrow back into the sand in a corkscrewing motion to wait for the next tide.
Brachyura crabs are considered true crabs; they have a short abdomen, four walking legs, and a pair of claw-like arms at the front end.
Many thousands of species live worldwide in seawater, freshwater and on land.
Synonyms:
Ocypode (Scopimera) globosa De Haan, 1835 [in De Haan, 1833-1850]
Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858
