What critter is that?
We’re so lucky to have such a beautiful Bay with all its fascinating critters. Better still we’ve got someone to turn to if we don’t know a critter’s name. The Melbourne Museum Discovery Centre has an excellent free service in species identification. All you need to do is email a good picture of your mystery species, noting where and when it was found and what it was doing.
Baykeeper recently found a large crab on the beach at Holloway Bend, but was unable to find any orange-coloured crabs in the Baykeeper library. The good people from the Museum have advised it’s a sand or surf crab Ovalipes australiensis.
Their two flattened back legs enable them to swim, and probably serve as shovels to help the crab dig backwards into the sand when threatened. Perhaps the two large dots are pretend eyes to fool a would-be predator into thinking they’re being stared down… just long enough for the crab to escape.
Many thanks to the Museum staff for cheerfully sharing their invaluable knowledge!
Yes indeed.
I would add if you find a dead animal, it’s worth emailing the Discovery Centre to see if they would like to keep it for their collection. Especially if it’s not ‘too far gone’.
I’ve found two birds they were glad to add to their ‘study skins’ collection. They were a juvenile Tawny Frogmouth and a juvenile Pacific Gull.
Hello Baykeeper
Where’s Holloway Bend? Similar crabs to this – especially their discarded shells- are quite common on McCrae/Dromana beach.
Hi Neil,
This is definitely a sand crab. I only know as I cooked a few as part of a sustainable feast on the long weekend. We were theming a meal around local produce, food miles, etc.. The fishmonger in Carlisle St told me they were sourced from Lakes Entrance, but it looks like they are a lot more local than that! About $14/kg and bloody good tucker.
Hi Jenny. Holloway Bend is immediately south of Brighton Sea Baths. Sand crabs (aka two spotted, or surf crabs) are at home in sandy areas that are subject to wave action, so I guess McCrae & Dromana would suit them fine.
Hi Julian. Apparently mulloway reckon they’re good tucker too, so I guess those that ended up in the $14 kilo must have been pretty athletic to escape them. It’s good that people are starting to chew on the topic of sustainable seafood. We’re sure to hear a lot more about it in the near future.