During crab spawning season, Bali's beaches can get a bit crowded. The tiny crustaceans, now out of the larval stage, come to shore by the million and can be completely indistinguishable from the sand! YouTuber Jeremias Maluw shot this clip back in 2008 when he stumbled across a pincher pile-up on Legian Beach. (Amazing as the phenomenon is to see, it's important to note that getting fast-and-handsy with hundreds of crabs is not a good idea.)
Bali is home to a number of crab species and identifying them at this age can be tricky, but some have suggested these could be sand-bubbler crabs (family Dotillidae). Aptly named for the intricate patterns of sandy spheres they leave behind, sand bubbler females can lay as many as 4,200 eggs per brood!
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Top header image: Neerav Bhatt/Flickr
Predator vs Prey
Predator vs Prey
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