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Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male) 1 years.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female) 1 years.

Breeding season Mating occurs throughout the year.

This usually occurs when they are about a year old. Males reach sexual maturity when their carapace is larger than 24 mm. Females reach sexual maturity when their carapace is larger than 25 mm. Females will mature and ovulate in April and again in August. In the Carolinas, ghost crabs spawn from April through July. Often copulatory plugs are found in ghost crabs the male will release a seminal fluid along with his sperm that will become hard and prevent rival sperm from reaching the female’s ova. Usually mating will occur somewhere in or near the burrow of the male. Mating occurs while both the male and the female have a hard shell. This is an adaptation to terrestrial life. Unlike other crab species, ghost crabs can mate even when the female’s integument is hard, which means that they can mate anytime after sexual maturation.

( Diaz and Costlow, 1972 McDermott, 2009) Metamorphosis into the first crab stage takes place at the surf-beach interface. The megalopa stage of Ocypode quadrata is one of the largest of the brachyuran crabs. The megalopa stage requires at least 35 days for development. ( Fisher and Tevesz, 1979)Īfter hatching from an egg, Ocypode quadrata has five zoea stages and one megalopa stage. They have a quadrate carapace, large club-shaped eyestalks, unequal chelipeds (claws) and long walking legs. They are either straw-colored or grayish-white. Ocypode quadrata is small, having a carapace length of about 5 cm (2 inches) at maturity. ( Branco, et al., 2010 Fisher and Tevesz, 1979 da Rosa and Borzone, 2008) They are found on the supralittoral zone (the area above the spring high tide line) of sand beaches, from the water line up to the dunes. Ghost crabs inhabit tropical and subtropical areas and can be found on both oceanic and more protected estuarine beaches. Their basic range is 40 degrees N to 30 degrees S on the eastern coasts of North and South America.

It has also been found in Bermuda, and larvae have been found as far north as Woods Hole, MA, however no adults have been found at this latitude. The range of Ocypode quadrata extends from Block Island, Rhode Island to Santa Catarina, Brazil.