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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Crustaceans (Crustacea) » Malacostracans (Malacostraca) » Eucarida (Crabs, Crayfish, Shrimp, etc.) (Eucarida) » Crabs, Crayfishes, Lobsters, Prawns, and Shrimp (Decapoda) » True Crabs (Brachyura) » Fiddler Crabs and Ghost Crabs (Ocypodidae) » Ghost Crabs (Ocypode) » Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata)

Species Ocypode quadrata - Atlantic Ghost Crab

Classification · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Habitat · Remarks · Print References · Internet References
Ghost Crab - Ocypode quadrata Ocypodid #2 - Ocypode quadrata Light colored crab on the beach - Ocypode quadrata Atlantic Ghost Crab - Ocypode quadrata Ocypode quadrata Ocypode quadrata? - Ocypode quadrata Crab - Ocypode quadrata Atlantic Ghost Crab - Ocypode quadrata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Crustacea (Crustaceans)
Class Malacostraca (Malacostracans)
Superorder Eucarida (Eucarida (Crabs, Crayfish, Shrimp, etc.))
Order Decapoda (Crabs, Crayfishes, Lobsters, Prawns, and Shrimp)
Infraorder Brachyura (True Crabs)
Family Ocypodidae (Fiddler Crabs and Ghost Crabs)
Genus Ocypode (Ghost Crabs)
Species quadrata (Atlantic Ghost Crab)
Explanation of Names
Author: J. C. Fabricius, 1787
Identification
The only species of ghost crab along Atlantic beaches.
Range
From RI along the coast to Brazil.
Habitat
Sandy beaches.
Remarks
Individuals are occasionally found north of Rhode Island, though they cannot survive the winters there.

Update: articles in 2013 indicate that a breeding population is present on Martha's Vineyard. Records of juveniles run as far north as Kennebunkport, ME, one of which is posted here on the Guide.
Print References
Oktay, S. 2013, Ghost Crabs! "Today's Island, Yesterday's Nantucket" (news article/blog post)

McDermott, J 2013, The Distribution of Ocypode quadrata, Atlantic Ghost Crab (Decapoda: Brachyura: Ocypodidae) Megalopae, beyond the Presumptive Northern Boundary of Adult Populations in the Northwest Atlantic. Northeastern Naturalist 20 (4) pp. 578-586
Internet References
Atlantic Ghost Crab
Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 24 November, 2009 - 3:41am
Additional contributions by Joshua Stuart Rose, metrioptera
Last updated 17 April, 2020 - 7:41am

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