Ocypode gaudichaudii

Ocypode gaudichaudii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Ocypodidae
Genus: Ocypode
Species: O. gaudichaudii
Binomial name
Ocypode gaudichaudii
H. Milne-Edwards & Lucas, 1843

Ocypode gaudichaudii, also known as the painted ghost crab or cart driver crab, is a species of crab found on Pacific beaches from El Salvador to Chile as well as on the Galápagos Islands.

They are red-orange in colour with sandy dots across the back of the carapace.

The crabs deposit feed on vegetative matter, such as algae exposed by low tide, and dead plant and animal tissue both from ocean and terrestrial sources.[1]

References

  1. Thomas J. Trott (1988). "Note on the foraging activities of the painted ghost crab Ocypode gaudichaudii H. Milne Edwards & Lucas in Costa Rica (Decapoda, Brachyura)". Crustaceana 55 (2): 217–219. doi:10.1163/156854088x00546. JSTOR 20104392.

Further reading

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