Distinguishing features
Size
- Up to 1.2 cm (Carapace width)
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
It is an Australian endemic.
It is common to wave exposed and estuarine sandy tropical and subtropical beaches of eastern Australia. The species occur in aggregations just below the high tide mark with females and smaller individuals mainly on the seaward side and males on the terrestrial side of the aggregation. (Wikipedia)
Behaviour
They live in vertical burrows around the high tide zone in sheltered beaches and bays.
During daytime low tides it emerges to feed on organic material left behind by the ebbing tide. While emerging crabs clear the burrow of sand by shaping it into balls that are then pushed out onto the surface sand. This continues until the burrow has been cleared down to the water table.
Feeding is done by scraping the surface sand with the two claws. The scraped sand is formed into a round pellet in the crab's mouth while the crab extracts the organic matter for consumption. While feeding, the crab moves away from its burrow in straight lines for about 20-30cm. This is repeated to create a large number of lines of finished pellets, radiating from the burrow. (Species Bank)
