It was the perfect mission, flawless, well thought out and organized. “It´s time to attack” decided the mischievous boy. He spotted the crabs, got down on all fours and proceeded to crawl towards them like a sneaky lion just about to leap for its prey. The eight legged critters innocently munched away at their food oblivious of the oncoming invader. It was perfect, they had no idea he was near, thought the boy. “You´ll be mine, little pets”, he whispered evilly. He got into position, ready to pounce, one, two, three…
“Raaaarrrrrr”, he leaped into the air, arms stretched out and hands forward reaching for his victim and……. “SMACK”, he slammed face down in the sand sprawled out with no victory. The crabs had won again. “Mission failed”, he muttered whilst spitting out sand from his mouth. “Next time” he declared unsurely “next time”.
Ever tried to catch a crab on the beach? They are fast little buggers! Armed with able limbs and a hard shell these little guys are quick on their feet. Moving rapidly like little soldiers they watch for intruders with one eye while watching for the shore line with the other. This never ending act of diving in and out of its hole in the sand is an everyday occurrence.
Why do they do this all the time? Crabs that live on the beach are very shy, skittish and jumpy and are always on the lookout for predators, especially human invaders. When they feel threatened the quickly scurry into their deep hole in the sand and hide away for protection.
Why do crabs walk sideways? Crabs have eight walking legs and two claws, their legs are located on the backside of their body making them shimmy sideways either right or left.
Crabs are fun to find while on a dive and observe as they work away keeping their area clean as can be while bravely ninja swinging their claws at any creature any size that approaches.
There are many types of crabs, some even look quite strange. Interesting ones are the Umbrella Crab, the Halloween Crab and my personal favorite the Arrow Crab. Arrow crabs are so neat. I recall finding my first one of these little fellows on a dive in Playa del Carmen hiding under a coral. They have an ever so cute arrow shaped body marked with vibrant blue strips, extremely long spider like legs, and tiny little blue claws. To me they look extremely intelligent yet sneaky at the same time. I bet they were one of those nerdy kids at school that without you knowing it could judo chop you if you made them mad!
An interesting fact about Crabs is their defense strategy of purposely shedding a leg or claw to a predator. This strategy is known as autotomy. The crabs muscle suddenly contracts bending the limb backwards until it breaks off. This action can distract a predator long enough for the crab to escape leaving the predator either confused or content munching away at the crabs limb. The limb is gradually replaced over time, this is why crabs are commonly seen with a small leg or claw.
