Hi Everyone,
As I watched a Beach Stone-Curlew eating small soldier crabs on Friday,
it occurred to me that someone might have some knowledge about soldier
crabs.
My question is: do soldier crabs form creches? And if so, for what
purpose? And if not, why do they so frequently gather in these groups as
described below?
Many times over the years, and now again, I am watching some very large
soldier crabs gathering in large groups on the intertidal sandbanks in
Noosa, SEQ. At the same time, only metres away, I also see large
congregations of very much smaller soldier crabs, accompanied by a few
very large crabs. I know nothing about the life cycles of crabs. It has
always looked to me like the smaller crabs are being babysat by a few
large ones whilst the adults are off at a party. Well, that's the
anthropomorphic interpretation :-), but there has to be an answer.
Cheers,
Jill
--
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
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