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There are 28 species in the genus:<ref name="Grave">{{cite journal |journal = [[Raffles Bulletin of Zoology]] |year=2009 |volume = Suppl. 21 |pages=1–109 |title = A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans |author=Sammy De Grave, N. Dean Pentcheff, Shane T. Ahyong ''et al.'' |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]]}}</ref>
There are 28 species in the genus:<ref name="Grave">{{cite journal |journal = [[Raffles Bulletin of Zoology]] |year=2009 |volume = Suppl. 21 |pages=1–109 |title = A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans |author=Sammy De Grave, N. Dean Pentcheff, Shane T. Ahyong ''et al.'' |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]]}}</ref>
[[File:O.cordimana Latreille.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Ocypode cordimanus]]'' at night]]
[[File:O.cordimana Latreille.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Ocypode cordimanus]]'' at night]]

{{div col|colwidth=24em}}
*''[[Ocypode africana]]'' <small>De Man, 1881</small>
*''[[Ocypode africana]]'' <small>De Man, 1881</small>
*''[[Ocypode brevicornis]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1837</small>
*''[[Ocypode brevicornis]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1837</small>
*''[[Ocypode ceratophthalmus]]'' <small>(Pallas, 1772)</small>
*''[[Ocypode ceratophthalmus]]'' <small>(Pallas, 1772)</small> - horned ghost crab or horn-eyed ghost crab
*''[[Ocypode convexa]]'' <small>Quoy & Gaimard, 1824</small>
*''[[Ocypode convexa]]'' <small>Quoy & Gaimard, 1824</small> - Golden Ghost Crab
*''[[Ocypode cordimanus]]'' <small>Latreille, 1818</small>
*''[[Ocypode cordimanus]]'' <small>Latreille, 1818</small> - Smooth-handed Ghost Crab
*''[[Ocypode cursor]]'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small>
*''[[Ocypode cursor]]'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small>
*''[[Ocypode fabricii]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1837</small>
*''[[Ocypode fabricii]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1837</small>
*''[[Ocypode gaudichaudii]]'' <small>H. Mile-Edwards & Lucas, 1843</small>
*''[[Ocypode gaudichaudii]]'' <small>H. Mile-Edwards & Lucas, 1843</small> - painted ghost crab or cart driver crab
*''[[Ocypode jousseaumei]]'' <small>(Nobili, 1905)</small>
*''[[Ocypode jousseaumei]]'' <small>(Nobili, 1905)</small>
*''[[Ocypode kuhlii]]'' <small>De Haan, 1835</small>
*''[[Ocypode kuhlii]]'' <small>De Haan, 1835</small>
⚫
*''[[Ocypode laevis]]'' <small>Fabricius, 1798</small> - Hawaiian Ghost Crab
*''[[Ocypode longicornuta]]'' <small>Dana, 1852</small>
*''[[Ocypode longicornuta]]'' <small>Dana, 1852</small>
*''[[Ocypode macrocera]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1852</small>
*''[[Ocypode macrocera]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1852</small>
*''[[Ocypode madagascariensis]]'' <small>Crosnier, 1965</small>
*''[[Ocypode madagascariensis]]'' <small>Crosnier, 1965</small>
⚫
*''[[Ocypode minuta]]'' <small>Fabricius, 1798</small>
*''[[Ocypode mortoni]]'' <small>George, 1982</small>
*''[[Ocypode mortoni]]'' <small>George, 1982</small>
*''[[Ocypode nobili]]'' <small>De Man, 1902</small>
*''[[Ocypode nobili]]'' <small>De Man, 1902</small>
*''[[Ocypode occidentalis]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1860</small>
*''[[Ocypode occidentalis]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1860</small> - Gulf Ghost Crab
*''[[Ocypode pallidula]]'' <small>Jacquinot, 1846</small>
*''[[Ocypode pallidula]]'' <small>Jacquinot, 1846</small> - pallid ghost crab
*''[[Ocypode pauliani]]'' <small>Crosnier, 1965</small>
*''[[Ocypode pauliani]]'' <small>Crosnier, 1965</small>
*''[[Ocypode platytarsis]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1852</small>
*''[[Ocypode platytarsis]]'' <small>H. Milne-Edwards, 1852</small>
*''[[Ocypode pygoides]]'' <small>Ortmann, 1894</small>
*''[[Ocypode pygoides]]'' <small>Ortmann, 1894</small>
*''[[Ocypode quadrata]]'' <small>(Fabricius, 1787)</small>
*''[[Ocypode quadrata]]'' <small>(Fabricius, 1787)</small> - Atlantic Ghost Crab
*''[[Ocypode rotundata]]'' <small>Miers, 1882</small>
*''[[Ocypode rotundata]]'' <small>Miers, 1882</small>
*''[[Ocypode ryderi]]'' <small>Kingsley, 1880</small>
*''[[Ocypode ryderi]]'' <small>Kingsley, 1880</small> - pink ghost crab
*''[[Ocypode saratan]]'' <small>(Forskål, 1775)</small>
*''[[Ocypode saratan]]'' <small>(Forskål, 1775)</small> - Red Sea ghost crab
*''[[Ocypode sinensis]]'' <small>Dai, Song & Yang, 1985</small>
*''[[Ocypode sinensis]]'' <small>Dai, Song & Yang, 1985</small>
*''[[Ocypode stimpsoni]]'' <small>Ortmann, 1897</small>
*''[[Ocypode stimpsoni]]'' <small>Ortmann, 1897</small> - Dancing of Ghost crab
⚫
*''[[Ocypode laevis]]'' <small>Fabricius, 1798</small>
⚫
*''[[Ocypode minuta]]'' <small>Fabricius, 1798</small>
{{div col end}}


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 23:55, 11 August 2012

"Ocypode" redirects here. For the harpy in Greek mythology, see Ocypete.

Ghost crabs
Ocypode quadrata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Infraorder:
Brachyura
Family:
Ocypodidae
Genus:
Ocypode

Weber, 1795 [1]
Type species
Cancer ceratophthalmus
Pallas, 1772

Ghost crabs, also called sand crabs, are crabs of the genus Ocypode, common shore crabs in many countries. Characteristics of the genus include one claw being larger than the other, but this difference is not as marked as in male fiddler crabs.

Ecology

Ghost crabs dominate sandy shores in tropical and subtropical areas, replacing the sandhoppers that predominate in cooler areas.[2] They breathe through gills, which they periodically wet with seawater.[2] They must also return to the ocean to release their eggs, which develop into marine larvae.[2]

Ghost Crab(Ocypode pallidula) close up

Adult ghost crabs dig deep burrows, comprising a long shaft with a chamber at the end, occasionally with a second entrance shaft. They remain in the burrow during the hottest part of the day, and throughout the coldest part of the winter.[2] They emerge mostly at night, to feed on mole crabs and coquina clams, although they will also eat a wide range of items, including carrion, debris and turtle hatchlings.[3]

Etymology

The name "ghost crab" derives from the animals' nocturnality and their pale colouration;[2] only O. gaudichaudii is brightly coloured.[4] The scientific name Ocypode is derived from the Greek roots ocy- ("fast") and ποδός (podos, "foot"), in reference to the animal's speed. [5]

Locomotion

The gait of O. ceratophthalmus alters as its speed increases. It can walk indefinitely using all four pairs of walking legs, occasionally alternating which side leads. At higher speeds, the fourth pair of legs is raised off the ground, and at the highest speeds, the crab runs, using only the first and second pairs of walking legs.[6]

Species

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ocypode.

There are 28 species in the genus:[1]

Ocypode cordimanus at night

References

  1. ^ a b Sammy De Grave, N. Dean Pentcheff, Shane T. Ahyong; et al. (2009). "A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 21: 1–109. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e George Karleskint, Richard Keith Turner & James Small (2009). "Intertidal communities". Introduction to Marine Biology (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 356–411. ISBN 978-0-495-56197-2.
  3. ^ Pat Garber (2006). "Phantoms in the Surf: Ghost Crabs". Ocracoke Wild: A Naturalist's Year on an Outer Banks Island. Parkway Publishers. pp. 94–98. ISBN 978-1-933251-31-8.
  4. ^ Thomas G. Wolcott (1988). "Ecology". In Warren W. Burggren & Brian Robert McMahon (ed.). Biology of the land crabs. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–97. ISBN 978-0-521-30690-4.
  5. ^ Keith Davey. "Ocypode cordimana (Family Ocypodidae)". SpeciesBank. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  6. ^ C. F. Herreid II & R. J. Full (1988). "Energetics and locomotion". In Warren W. Burggren & Brian Robert McMahon (ed.). Biology of the land crabs. Cambridge University Press. pp. 333–377. ISBN 978-0-521-30690-4.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ghost_crab&oldid=506963173"