Beach Crabs

Ghost Crab
Ghost Crab
Ocypode quadrata
Fiddler Crab
Fiddler Crab
Uca spp

These small crabs are largely terrestrial. Female Fiddler Crabs lack the huge claw of the male, which is very strong but is used only in dance-like territorial displays. Several species in the area differ mainly by habitat. Fiddlers prefer marshes and stream banks, where huge colonies riddle the peat with tunnels near the waterline. Almost entirely terrestrial, you will find Ghost Crabs skittering across the beaches at night. Placed in the water, they may even drown! Both grow to a body size of approximately 1 inch.

Fiddler Crabs
Fiddler Crabs tend to live in nasty places. Note the odd left-handed male at upper-right.

US Fish & Wildlife Service Species Profile


Great White Shark

Carcharodon carcharias

Size:
to 26 ft, but more likely 12-16 ft

Habitat:
open ocean

Notes:
incredibly dangerous

Great White Shark

Great Whites are not terribly fond of cold water and are more likely to be found further south, although they do appear regularly in Long Island Sound. They are typically pelagic but have been known to come close inshore and even into creeks and rivers on rare occasions.

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