| Soldier
Crabs live in the muddy sand near mangroves along Australian
coasts. They often appear in their tens of thousands just
inland from the the sea. When you approach them they will
turn away and march off in the other direction. If you get
too close each crab will stop and spiral down into the sand and
vanish. After a few minutes the crabs will begin to
reappear.
The crabs are only about 2 cm
across and have small pincers with which they sift through sand
and extract tiny fragments of food (usually pieces of plant and
animal material). After they have finished with each parcel
of sand they deposit it in a small ball on the sand surface.
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