HORN-EYED GHOST CRAB FOAMS AT THE MOUTH

I can understand why it’s called Horn-Eyed but Ghost Crab, no clue. But thanks to Roger McIlroy, an expert on seashore life and someone with whom I had only recently got acquainted by e-mail, clued me in on its name. These were recently seen at the Seria beach right at the Billionth Barrel Monument. Just two days after I shot waves and rocks I got excited and had hoped to see the waves hitting the rocks during the day but there was none. Instead, I noticed in the distance an army of crabs marching in stride until we showed up.

The near-noon hours of a sunny morning and interesting “claw” shadows. My mom caught one and a rather large one that was trying to run away. Apparently, horn-eyed ghost crabs are commonly seen on our sandy shores but there’s supposedly more active at night. Their large holes mark the entrance to their burrows and are usually located on the landward shore near the high water mark, with large amounts of sand tossed around the entrance.

The bright spots you see below are reflections of the sun and this particular crab is quite docile. I was able to go very near it and it remained still (as near as an inch away or whatever is the minimum focusing distance of the Canon EFS 10-22mm lens). The bright spots fooled the camera metering into pulling back exposures so much it looked like a late evening scene. This is one of my favourites.

Now, this is the first time I had seen a crab foam at the mouth. I’ve seen earlier ones that spat water but not one that foamed. When I had these pictures published ahead of the words, I got asked by a few IM contacts what I had done to (presumably provoked) cause it to react this way. I searched for an answer as soon as I got back. Really, just one answer would be good enough but the more I clicked the more doubts began to fill my head. No, Steven, we did not tickle the crab into foaming and no, Lee Ming, those aren’t my hands.