Thursday, July 1, 2010

Oh, Emerita!


Also known as sand crabs, mole crabs, sand fleas, beach hoppers, and sea pigs. I grew up in southern California, only 20 minutes from the beach, and I always referred to them as sand crabs. As a kid, I would catch them, but that novelty wore off as an adult. It creeps me out to feel them wiggling under my feet. My boys, however, had a blast catching them last summer when we went to CA to visit family. I took this picture of Rick holding one. Here are a few facts about sand crabs, probably more than you care to know ...

  • Sand crabs live under the sand in shallow water.
  • They live about 2-3 years.
  • Females are larger than males.
  • Their antennae is used to collect plankton.
  • Predators are fish and birds -- and kids!
  • They leave a "V" shape in the sand as water recedes.
  • Sand crabs can be in groups of dozens to thousands.
  • Fishermen use them as live bait.
I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking the one in my picture is a female because of how big it is. That little section on the lower part of the sand crab folds down like a tail and sometimes you can see bright orange eggs under the flap. I didn't go looking, to be honest, but if you really want to see what I'm talking about you can click here. Interesting little critters, that's for sure.

Have you ever caught sand crabs?

2 comments:

  1. We always call them sand crabs too - but I think they're a little creepy - popping up out of the sand like something out of The Dark Tower series

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  2. I am always amazed at God's creativity when I see the diversity!

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