These small crustaceans can reach a length of 1-2 1/2 inches and are dark in color. They can be a dark green to dark brown in color and live in the mangroves of Florida. They do not have true pincers and their eyes are spread far apart. They have thick legs with hairs on them and these legs are sharp at the tips. They remain in the same general area their entire lives.

They are a soft-shelled crab that does not use a shell for a home like the Hermit crab does. We noticed that when you come upon them they try to hide behind the main branches of the mangrove trees so you can't see them. Some will also jump off of the mangroves into the water below and quickly burrow into the mud below. Although, when they do this, they also aerate the mud below the water which is a good thing.

They also hang around and rest with other Florida Mangrove Crabs. Some were sleeping right next to each other. They also are on the same mangrove trees with other types of soft shell crabs and Periwinkle snails. We did however, see a Florida Mangrove Snake resting on a mangrove and there were no mangrove crabs anywhere near the mangrove snake.

----------
View A Photo Of A Florida Mangrove Crab
View A Close-up Of A Florida Mangrove Crab
----------

Predators of the mangrove crab include birds such as herons and egrets and other larger crabs such as the blue crab. At low tide, the mangrove crab, along with other crabs scavenges the muddy and sandy bottoms of the mangroves. They look for pieces of fish, shrimp, remains of other crabs, leftover clam and scallop meat, algae and microscopic organisms in the mud and sand. Mangrove crabs mate throughout the year.

The female mangrove crabs hold onto their eggs for a few weeks until they release them in the Spring into the water where they are at the larval stage. They partially submerge their abdomen into the water where they shake enough to release the tiny hatched crab larvae into the water at night. There are some species of crabs where the females gather together and release all of their hatched larvae together on the same night.

The larvae drift in the currents with other small marine larvae known as zooplankton. They are still classified as marine animals at this stage. The small larvae have so many obstacles to avoid as well as predators. It take around 30 days and 4-5 stages to turn into a tiny crab.

Article Written By Dawn La Follette