"Kingdom of the Spiders"? The long-lost love children of Ebirah? No, just Mictyris longicarpus, the humble "soldier crab." At low tide, legions of them appear on the mangrove flats around the coastline of Okinawa's Iriomote Island. Hiroko and I plunged into the mud for a closer look.
crabs? what, no decent animals to look at. :-)
actually..those things are pretty cool! I'll have to look them up and see if they do anything with those weird funky legs of theirs...
Posted by: ChrisM | July 07, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Just wanted to say those little crabs rule and thanks for the post. Makes me want to head over to Okinawa!
Posted by: Adamu | July 07, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Cool video ^^ Once I got over the creepiness, they are rather cute. Fiddler crabs still win the adorable-ness contest in my mind though. ^^
Posted by: Lynn | July 07, 2008 at 12:58 PM
It's amazing how loud the sound of a thousand tiny skittering feet can be. That's the background noise in the first video. Another favorite past-time: hanging back with a pair of binoculars and watching various shorebirds pick them off. We're easily amused.
Posted by: MattAlt | July 07, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Awesome scene! Be sure to attack the weak spot for MASSIVE DAMAGE. (sorry)
I saw a scene kind of like that in Victoria, BC. On the rocks by this lighthouse were millions of snail shells, ranging from about 10mm to near microscopic. Turns out they were all hermit crabs. At any given time, about 1 in 10 was scuttling about. Cute lil critters.
Posted by: Mr.Dandy | July 07, 2008 at 07:10 PM
Reminds me of the time we took a busload of preschoolers to the beach. The scuffling sound of all those tiny tennies on the sand and the cries of the hungry seabirds as they swooped down and carried off a hapless few. Quite a sight.
Posted by: cae | July 09, 2008 at 09:04 AM