Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Sand Bubbler Crab: FACE OF THE WEEK #2

Our ‘Face of the Week’ this time, is this little fellow-‘The Sand Bubbler Crab’



Remember our trip to the beach? We found him and a number of his friends pottering around, religiously making these lovely patterns.
Mummy told me to stand absolutely still and not dig after him so she could get a few photos of him. And being the good girl that I am, I let her.
I am glad because I think he is a very interesting and artistic little fellow and I am very pleased to present to you his exclusive photos, up close and personal!
Don’t you think the patterns he makes are exquisite?





We researched him for you. And here are some cool facts about our ‘Face of the Week’.

1. He is also called ‘The Soldier Crab’ because he sometimes moves around in large herds.
2. The small balls of sand he forms are called Crab-Pellets. He scrapes the sand into his mouth, sifts any organic, edible matter and rejects the sand grains in the form of a ball!
3. He breathes through his legs! He has a little membrane in his legs which helps in exchange of oxygen.
4. He has some stiff hair on his underbelly that helps him stick to the sand and draw water from between the grains of sand for rehydration in the heat.
5. He is very sensitive and quickly withdraws into his burrow at the slightest hint of movement may it be life-forms around him, a flying leaf or a plastic bag, only to re-emerge
6. When the tide comes in, he withdraws inside and seals his burrow. And he waits for the next low-tide so he can go back to his pottering!

Even as we watched, a large wave washed off his beautiful handiwork, bringing with it a small conch but making our little friend disappear into his home.
Till the next tide, I am told?



Pee Ess: Thank you so very much, Dear Pawple, for the understanding our predicament (and inconvenience due to our Secretary-Editor’s busy-ness).
We are glad to have so many Furiends who understand. Btw, we still are struggling to catch up with you all, but rest assured we will definitely make it.

If you want to see more faces, please visit 'Spacial Peepol' . Maybe you will want to join this meme.
Wags,

20 comments:

The Strawberry Mallard said...

How neat is that little guy? Oh I could watch that all day and never get bored!

Sistertex said...

Truly fascinating little things! Great subject for 'Face of the Week'. I really didn't even know until you talked about it here. Thank you so much for visiting 'Spacial Peepol' too and for your kind comment. Nope Lady Turkey has not managed to enter our kitchen, at least not yet! ;) Thanks for asking.

Thank you for participating in 'Face of the Week', greatly appreciated. I hope you will keep the faces coming! Have a great week!

jabblog said...

What a fabulously interesting post, Ginger - what a good girl you are to stand still and not dive in :-)
Don't you think the pattern the bubbler crab made looked rather like a dog?
Wags, purrs and licks (yes, Winston licks too!) from all of us.

Unknown said...

That's for the wonderful info. The crab is an interesting guy :)

Anonymous said...

Whoa! That's really neat! I've never heard of one of those things. Did you kinda want to eat him? Cuz I think I mighta kinda wanted to eat him.

Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie

JD and Max said...

Hi Ginger - wow, you were a good girl weren't you? We are very impressed, thanks so much for sharing these great photso - we biggified them all and really enjoyed looking through them. We thought the patterns looked a bit like an elephant!

Schnauzer snuggles - JD and Max.

Remington said...

Great post! I love learning things!

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

That was a fun post - we learned a lot about that little crab. Mom found that book your Mom got lost in. She says it is for Dad to read, but we are so hoping she doesn't decide to start it first - we will be in the same predicament as you were.

Woos - Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

Teddy Bear said...

That little crab guy is SO cool. He is very talented! Has your Mummy finished her book?

Love,
Teddy Bear

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Great post. We've never seen any crabs. So interesting to learn about the things in our friends' worlds.

Ginger, there is no way we'd have stayed still. Good Girl.

XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

Michael said...

Thanks for the crab info. I didn't see him at first. Nice creature.

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

The khrabs khreations are pawesome!

Thanks fur sharing the inFURmation about him/her/them!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra & Khousin Merdie

Molly the Airedale said...

How neat the sand bubbler crab is! He really does make works of art! Thank you for posting all of these neat facts about him!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Lola and also Franklin, too said...

That is most interesting. I never saw anything like that, or those little balls of sand. I guess maybe we don't have those crabs here. Thanks for telling us all about them.

wags, Lola

koko said...

We have those crabs here too... with their tiny sand balls outside their little hole up... thanks for sharing.

Licks, hero

houndstooth said...

That is just fascinating! I think your blog is definitely the most interesting and educational one we've read today! Thanks for sharing with us!

Bunny

little princess Luna~ said...

hello my furends~!!
mum and i enjoyed reading about this little crab--very interesting facts~!!
thank you so much~!
oh~! and mumsy said she LOVES the last picture with the little conch. :)

xo,
luna

Lorenza said...

Pawesome!
Sure it was great to see him working!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Shelly said...

That was cool!

Olive said...

Hey there.. stop by and see me for your award!! :)

Licks from me..

Olive

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