Bartolome Island

Crabs are among the most active and obvious of the intertidal organisms. These organisms are crustaceans and represent over a hundred species in the Galápagos. The individual that we have here is a ghost crab. Ghost crabs, “Ocypode,” are common on beaches where they dig burrows in the sand and prey on other beach creatures. I have seen them taking turtle hatchlings into their burrows. They also have characteristic traces of “sand-balls” on the beach, which are pellets of sand that they have sorted through for microorganisms. These balls of theirs have been shown to be a way of attracting females too. Their eyes are unusual in that they can be raised vertically on their eyestalks or lowered into grooves of their carapace. Ghost crabs and other crustaceans have excellent vision and have some of the most developed eyes in nature.

Ghost crabs were some of the curious creatures we saw today on the wonderful beach of Bartolome where we had a spectacular snorkel outing. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.