Ocypode gaudichaudii


Ocypode gaudichaudii, also known as the painted ghost crab or cart driver crab, is a species of crab found on Pacific beaches from El Salvador to Chile as well as on the Galápagos Islands. The species was first described by Henri Milne-Edwards and Hippolyte Lucas in 1843.
They are red orange in colour with sandy dots across the back of the carapace.
The crabs deposit feed on vegetative matter, such as algae exposed by low tide, and dead plant and animal tissue both from ocean and terrestrial sources.
In Peru, this crab is the host of the acanthocephalan parasite Neoandracantha peruensis.

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