Ocypode ryderi

Ocypode ryderi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Family:	Ocypodidae
Genus:	Ocypode
Species:	O. ryderi
Binomial name
Ocypode ryderi Kingsley, 1880

Ocypode ryderi, also known as the pink ghost crab, is a species of ghost crab found from the Cape Region to Kenya.^[1]

Identification

Body is pale pink with distinctive mauve/purple joints to the legs; square carapace and long, robust legs. The eyes are on long stalks but lack the extended horns found in Ocypode ceratophthalmus. The larger of the two nippers has a granular stridulating organ on the palm which consists of a single row of granules. Adults are on average 35 millimetres (1.4 in) in length.^[2]

Biology

Abundant on tropical beaches that are exposed to the sea. They burrow deeply by day and emerge at night to feed on deposited carrion and small animals.^[2]

Related species

Ocypode madagascariensis is almost identical but it is sandy coloured and its legs do not have mauve joints.^[2]

References

1. ^ L. F. Jackson, M. J. Smale and P. F. Berry (1991). "Ghost crabs of the genus Ocypode (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ocypodidae) of the east coast of South Africa". Crustaceana 61 (3): 280–286. doi:10.1163/156854091X00164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20104707. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} G. M. Branch, M. L. Branch, C. L. Griffiths & L. E. Buckley (2007). Two Oceans: A Guide to the marine life of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers. ISBN 1770076336.