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Description:
Ghost crabs grow 1 - 2.5  inches carapace length.  The carapace is square in shape, with straight sides, a convex dorsal surface, and an H-shaped depression at the center.  Body color is typically gray-white, pale yellow or sometimes amber, often with darker gray or purple coloration.  Young crabs are more darkly colored in mottled gray and brown.  The legs are light gray to pale yellow or orange.  Chelae of both sexes are unequal and white.  The club-shaped eyes are large and project upwards on stalks.  

Habitat:
Ghost crabs are common sights on ocean beaches and in protected embayments having sandy beaches.  They are fast-moving, nocturnal, scavengers that construct burrows 2 - 4 feet deep above the high tide line.  They are seldom found more than 1/4 mile from water.
 

Range:  
Ghost crabs range from Rhode Island  to Brazil, including the West Indies and Bermuda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 
Ghost crab, Ocypode quadrata, collected from the Indian River Lagoon.   Photo courtesy of D. Elliot. 
 

Close up of a ghost crab showing its
distinctive stalked eyes.  Photo courtesy of D. Elliot.   
 
 

Ghost crabs breath air rather than water, but do so by way of gills, which must remain moist to function.  They accomplish this either by taking up water from the moist sands that they burrow into, or by returning periodically to the shoreline to let waves wash over them and soak their gills.  Though they often run to the water to avoid threats, they can only survive under water for a limited time.