Western Soldier Crab

Morphology

The Western Soldier Crab has a near-spherical blue body and thin orange limbs. There is a spine just behind each eye, but otherwise there is little ornamentation on the carapace. The claws are long and thin, but are larger in adult males than in females.

Behaviour

These crabs are found in their thousands on sand flats and undertake daily migrations at low tide to feed. Soldier crabs are deposit feeders, eating the microscopic organisms found between the sand grains. Using their complex mouthparts they gather up sand into small round feeding pellets which are often scattered around their burrows. Unlike typical crabs, the Western Soldier Crab can walk forwards rather than sideways, albeit with a very ungainly gait. Western Soldier Crabs will burrow into the sand by corkscrewing sideways using their legs and claws.

Habitat

Marine

Sand flats typically adjacent to mangrove forests.

Distribution

Shark Bay to Broome.