#4534 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Atlantic Ghost Crab
Ocypode quadrata
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Edgley Cesar · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 2. © Judy Gallagher · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © lightning_whelk · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Susan J. Hewitt · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Tyler Bishop · CC BY 4.0
- 6. © lightning_whelk · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Anna · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Brian Henderson · CC BY 4.0
- 9. © rachelmcd · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Ray Fisher · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
The Atlantic ghost crab , Ocypode quadrata , is a species of ghost crab, once described as an "occult, secretive alien from the ancient depths of the sea". It is a common species along the Atlantic coast of the United States, where it is the only species of ghost crab; its range of distribution extends from its northernmost reach on beaches in Westport, Massachusetts, south along the coasts of the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean to the beach of...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 27,999 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787 (239 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Atlantic Ghost Crab
- scientific name
- Ocypode quadrata
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Decapoda
- family
- Ocypodidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 27,999
- GBIF records in NL
- 1
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1787 by Johan Christian Fabricius
relatives· Ocypodidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 53875, Wikidata Q1465338, GBIF 2221529, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.