{"id":1487,"date":"2010-11-28T18:58:34","date_gmt":"2010-11-29T00:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2026-01-28T07:24:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:24:48","slug":"ghost-crab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/28\/ghost-crab\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlantic Ghost Crab"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GhostGhost Crab in burrow –\u00a0 <\/strong>D200, handheld, f9, 1\/800, ISO 200, 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata)<\/em> image was taken on the Gulf coast of Florida while I still lived there.<\/p>\n

Quite often people miss seeing these crabs because they blend with the color of the sand so well and they can scurry down their holes very quickly. Crabs can move in all directions but they usually move sideways.<\/p>\n

Crabs are from the order Decapoda and they all have ten legs. Atlantic Ghost Crabs breathe through gills, so they do have to return to the seawater to wet their gills. They also release their eggs into the salt water which then develop into marine larvae.<\/p>\n

The size of crabs is measured across the carapace and the measurement does not include the legs, ghost crabs are about 1 1\/2 inches across the carapace.<\/p>\n

I found that if I could locate an Atlantic Ghost Crab<\/span><\/a> burrow and sit very quietly close to it that they would slowly creep out far enough for me to get some photos.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Atlantic Ghost Crab photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Atlantic Ghost Crab image was taken on the Gulf coast of Florida while I still lived there. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[354,25,468],"tags":[4004,4039,4054,5229,5132,674,670,12013,3999,173,4035,1090,4017,4032],"class_list":["post-1487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ghost-crabs","category-florida","category-honeymoon-island-state-park","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-burrow","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-crab","tag-crabs","tag-crustaceans","tag-ghost-crab","tag-gulf-coast","tag-nature-photography","tag-ocypode-quadrata","tag-sand","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-mia-mcpherson-florida-6875.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-nZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33953,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/06\/a-ghost-crab-at-fort-de-soto-county-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":1487,"position":0},"title":"Atlantic Ghost Crab at Fort De Soto County Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am not sure why this particular Ghost Crab was out of its burrow during the day but I was happy that I had the opportunity to photograph it.","rel":"","context":"In "Atlantic Ghost Crabs"","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic Ghost Crabs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/ghost-crabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Atlantic Ghost Crab eyestalks above the water of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":396,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/08\/22\/hungry-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":1487,"position":1},"title":"Hungry Yellow-crowned Night Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It didn't take long for the Yellow-crowned Night Heron to grab the crab and send the sand flying.","rel":"","context":"In "Atlantic Ghost Crabs"","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic Ghost Crabs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/ghost-crabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron tearing up a Ghost Crab, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-devouring-crab-florida-1420.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2661,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/07\/red-knots-a-species-on-the-edge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1487,"position":2},"title":"Red Knots – A Species On The Edge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Red Knots are on the edge of extinction and without further regulation of Horseshoe Crab harvesting in North America plus additional protection and conservation measures for Red Knots they may well disappear in our lifetime.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flock of Red Knots flying by at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-knots-flock-flight-mia-mcpherson-8626.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-knots-flock-flight-mia-mcpherson-8626.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-knots-flock-flight-mia-mcpherson-8626.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-knots-flock-flight-mia-mcpherson-8626.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7264,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/26\/bird-images-from-warmer-days-and-all-at-300mm-or-less\/","url_meta":{"origin":1487,"position":3},"title":"Bird Images From Warmer Days And All At 300mm Or Less","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Gray skies, freezing temps and the inversions are beginning to get to me so I thought I would share some bird images from warmer days on Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in sunny Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "Atlantic Ghost Crabs"","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic Ghost Crabs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/ghost-crabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-crowned Night Heron adult devouring a Ghost Crab, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-ghost-crab-mia-mcpherson-1428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-ghost-crab-mia-mcpherson-1428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-ghost-crab-mia-mcpherson-1428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-ghost-crab-mia-mcpherson-1428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2624,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/02\/juvenile-yellow-crowned-night-heron\/","url_meta":{"origin":1487,"position":4},"title":"Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This young Yellow-crowned Night Heron moved very slowly and it seemed to do that deliberately.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron with a crab, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/yellow-crowned-night-heron-juvenile-crab-florida-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3234,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/07\/whimbrels-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":1487,"position":5},"title":"Whimbrels – Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It didn't take long for me to check my ISO, my aperture and other techs as I dropped onto my knees before laying flat on my belly to photograph the flock of 20 or so Whimbrels.","rel":"","context":"In "Florida"","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Whimbrel in flight over the Gulf of Mexico at Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}