Soldier Crab

Have you ever been to the beach and seen thousands of little sand balls all over the place?
Chances are they were left there by a group of these guys. As they move they place sand into their mouths with their pincers eating the small particles of dead plants and animals, leaving behind small, cleaned round pellets of sand.

Rarely seen alone , Soldier crabs congregate into armies of hundreds and sometimes thousands , giving them their name 'Soldier crab'.
This makes soldier crabs an easy bait to collect but you should always only ever take what you need.

Soldier Crabs are about 1.5 cm wide. They have a small, round, blue body. They have long jointed legs with purple stripes.

Soldier Crabs live on the east coast of Australia. They can be found on sandy flats and in estuaries, beaches and intertidal mangroves.

Soldier Crabs .

Soldier crabs will scoop up sand and mud with their front claws. They sift through the sand for food, dropping unwanted sand and mud.

Birds such as herons and ibis eat Soldier Crabs.

Grows to
Identification

Soldier crabs have a pale to dark blue thorax or body with long legs with purple joints

Scientific name

Mictyris longicarpus

Distribution
Also known as

When to get them

They emerge from their holes in the sand at low tide.

Interesting facts

• Soldier Crabs can walk forwards, unlike many species of crab, which can only walk sideways.
• When they are in their group they move together in the same direction.
• Unlike other crabs, they can walk forward as well as sideways.

Use Soldier crabs to catch