Red fiddler crab digging sand

Red crabs scurrying around the sandy beach of Henry Island offering visitors a interesting sight to watch.

A fiddler crab, also known as a calling crab, may be any of approximately 100 species of semi-terrestrial marine crabs which make up the genus Uca. As members of the family Ocypodidae, fiddler crabs are most closely related to the ghost crabs of the genus Ocypode. This entire group is composed of small crabs -- the largest being slightly over two inches across. Fiddler crabs are found along sea beaches and brackish inter-tidal mud flats, lagoons and swamps. Fiddler crabs are well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw while the females' claws are both the same size.

Like all crabs, fiddler crabs shed their shells as they grow. If they have lost legs or claws during their present growth cycle, a new one will be present when they molt. If the large fiddle claw is lost, males will develop one on the opposite side after their next molt. Newly molted crabs are very vulnerable because of their soft shells. They are reclusive and hide until the new shell hardens.

Fiddler crabs are mostly found in the mongrove areas of India, Henry Island being one of these. Henry Island is an island near Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas, India. It is approximately 130 km (81 mi) from Kolkata. The island is named after a European adventurer who surveyed land in the area in the late 19th Century. The area was covered in dense mangrove forest parted by numerous canals.

Source - Wikipedia

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