A pale, box-bodied crab of tropical and subtropical sandy beaches worldwide, with long, thick eyestalks and one claw bigger than the other. It digs deep burrows, comes out mainly at night, and is among the fastest-running invertebrates on land.
Quick answers
What is it?Crustacean
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Mainly nocturnal, living in deep burrows on the beach.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
At a glance
Found inOceans
HabitatCoast
ColoursWhite, Sandy
SizeTiny
LengthAbout 5 cm wide (Atlantic ghost crab)
Legs10
Covered inExoskeleton
Lives incolonies
Lives for3 years
Can swim
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Tropical and subtropical shores around the world. The Atlantic ghost crab ranges from Nova Scotia and Massachusetts to southern Brazil.
- What it eats
- Clams, mole crabs, insects, other crabs, plant matter and detritus, plus the eggs and hatchlings of sea turtles.
Did you know
Growls at rivals using teeth inside its own stomach.
It can run at more than a metre per second.
In a 2023 mirror test, Atlantic ghost crabs seemed to recognise themselves.
Often confused with
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