Ocypode saratan, ghost crab

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Ocypode saratan (Forskål, 1775) (Crustacea, Decapoda) is a species of ghost crab occurring in the Red Sea, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean. The body is box-like body and eyestalks possess long styles. It is primarily nocturnal and exploit food resources found on the shore. This specimen is one of the two males recently found in the old stores of the former Institute of Comparative Anatomy. It emerged that these samples were collected by Giuseppe Scortecci in 1953, during a scientific expedition in “Migiurtinia”, a geographical region located in Somalia. These crabs were described by Annamaria Carli in a 1969 paper (NATURA Soc. It. Sc. Nat. Museo Civ. St. Nat. E Acquario Civ. Milano, 60/1: 57-79). Males of this species build large sand mounds with a path in the sand that is followed by females to reach male’s burrow.

These specimens are now part of the zoological collection of the Genoa University.

Model realized by Angelica Ramirez Castro during the Universal Civil Service (SCU).