#Habitat7 / #RyderI in #MassEffect:Andromeda #masseffectandromeda

Ghost Crabs also have asymmetric claws, but the degree of asymmetry is substantially less than that seen in male Fiddler Crabs, and the claws are asymmetric in both male and female ghost crabs (e.g., this photo)

#Trivia #FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪

If we check with VAR, we have extended (old) video of L. oerstedi waving (www.fiddlercrab.info/video/video_...) but the only O. ryderi video appears to be an unhappy crab being held in someone’s hand. L. oerstedi narrowly wins to advance to the next round.

O. ryderi is well known and observed in its range, while L. oerstedi is extremely obscure, likely due to its barely 1 cm size (most of the smallest fiddler crabs are never noticed by non-expert observers; some are barely 5 mm wide as adults).

Beyond its beautiful color, O. ryderi is a fairly typical looking ghost crab. L. oerstedi has a distinct claw shape, with a notch on the lower finger, followed by a nearly perfectly straight edge to the tip.

You have to hand it to both species to go all-in with color! From the back L. oerstedi may appear brown, but from the front it is almost entirely bright aqua blue, with a touch of white. O. ryderi eschews the common cream and yellows of its brethren for delicate pink tones with darker highlights.

L. oerstedi is a small fiddler crab found in the eastern Pacific from El Salvador to Panama. O. ryderi is a medium ghost crab found on the east coast of Africa, from South Africa to Kenya, including limited observations on off coast islands and Madagascar.

Our fifth match of the day pits Leptuca oerstedi (Aqua Fiddler Crab) vs. Ocypode ryderi (Pink Ghost Crab)

Although this is our first match today with a Ghost Crab, it starts a chain of three contests in a row with a Ghost Crab competitor.

 #FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪

Pink Ghost Crabs (Ocypode ryderi) are found on the east coast of Africa — and this one here has a cluster of eggs!

📷 leoposthumus on iNaturalist
📍 Mozambique
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay

Probably Ocypode ryderi ?

🦀 Pink Ghost Crab (Ocypode ryderi)
📏 3.5 cm carapace/shell (not including legs)
📍 St. Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 🇿🇦
🗓 Dec 2022

#arthropods #crustaceans #crabs