Brief Summary
Along tropical and sub-tropical beaches world-wide, at any time between sunset and sunrise, millions of ghost crabs from the genus Ocypode are scurrying among carefully excavated burrows. The species Ocypode cordimanus is particularly abundant on tropical beaches along the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and can be easily distinguished from the sympatric O. ceratophthalmus by the absence of eye stalks. Ghost crabs have accomplished a remarkable transition from an aquatic to semi-terrestrial lifestyle and despite anthropogenic pressures, continue to thrive in robust populations.
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