Fiesty little crab

We were exploring a beach here in South Caicos and found lots of interesting things, as you can see from the photo. There was bright purple coral, large urchin and sand-dollar shells, lobster carapaces and other remains, and much much more.

The kids were happily rockpooling when a crab scuttled out of the undergrowth and raced towards them. They screamed loudly. About the size of my hand, the little fellow was fast and aggressive. He had bright blue claws and swimming 'paddles' in his hind legs. I went to pick him up in the usual fashion, finger and thumb behind his shell, but he opened his claws wide and snapped, like lightening, behind his head where my fingers almost were. I almost screamed! I think Gesa did.

He was a very feisty little fellow, turning to face us and going on the defensive whenever we got close. We didn't get too close, but used a small stick to see his amazing reflexes a few more times to capture him on video, then left him in peace, he deserved it.

A little video here

The kids, meanwhile, abandoned the rock pool and became palaeontologists, 'digging up' and amazing t-rex skeleton that looked like it was made of coral....