IDENTIFICATION
On sandy beaches in KwaZulu-Natal there are three species of ghost crab, all have a box-shaped carapace, one enlarged nipper and stalked eyes. The two most common are the pink ghost crab (Ocypode ryderi) which has a pale pink body and purple markings in the leg joints and the horn-eyed ghost crab (Ocypode ceratopthalmus) which has a grey-green body and distinct horns capping its eyes. In northern KZN, Ocypode madagascariensis is also found and this species is similar to the pink ghost crab but lacks the purple leg joints. Ghost crabs are social animals and are most active at night when they emerge from their burrows to feed.

DISTRIBUTION
Ghost crabs are found on tropical shores on the east coast from East London northwards. They inhabit sandy beaches in the upper intertidal zone and backshore where they burrow gregariously.

FEEDING:
The pink ghost crab is a scavenger, emerging at night to feed on carrion and small animals deposited along the seashore. The horn-eyed ghost crab feeds principally on live animals including bluebottles and hatchling loggerhead and leatherback turtles.

REPRODUCTION
The flap under the abdomen of a male crab is narrow and triangular whereas females have a wider more rounded flap where eggs are incubated. Ghost crabs mature when their carapace is approximately 30 mm wide, a size attained after about one year. Thousands of eggs are produced which are brooded by the female before being released into the sea. These hatch into larvae that spend about two and a half months at sea before returning to the beach.

GROWTH
Ghost crabs grow fairly rapidly, reaching breeding age after a year.

FISHERY
Recreational anglers collect ghost crabs as bait, harvesting approximately 36 800 crabs per year, or 94 crabs per kilometer per year in central and southern KwaZulu-Natal. In Maputaland, subsistence fishers collect ghost crabs as a supplementary food source. Studies have shown that approximately 3000-5000 crabs are harvested per km per year in Maputaland where densities of crabs ranged from 4 400 15 200 per kilometre. A local delicacy is the ghost crab kebab about 15 crabs are skewered onto thin sticks and cooked over a fire.

MANAGEMENT
Ghost crabs may only be collected by hand and a limit of 15 crabs per person per day has been set to ensure that crab harvesting is sustainable.
Traps or nets should not be introduced as these could improve harvesting efficiency to the extent that utilisation is unsustainable. Ghost crabs are easily killed by vehicles travelling on the beach. Travel slowly and only at low tide to minimise ghost crab mortalities.

ECOLOGY
Ghost crabs are gregarious animals and can communicate by rubbing a raised ridge on their claw against the base of their arm. They also communicate by the types of burrows and associated sand mounds that they build. Mature male horn-eyed ghost crabs build spiral burrows with pyramid-shaped mounds of sand whereas females do not create sand mounds or build spiral burrows. Intertidal burrows are destroyed by rising spring tides and the crabs dig them out again from the inside when the water recedes. On the long sandy beaches of Maputaland, Palmnut vultures can be seen eating ghost crabs.

Source: www.kznwildlife.com