Sand Bubbler
Scopimera inflata
Features
Small, globular, sandy-coloured. Unlike any other crab, uses broad oval patches (tympana) on legs to absorb oxygen from air. Tympana were once thought to act like ear-drums. To 12 mm across.
Notes
Wave-exposed and estuarine sandy beaches, intertidal. Makes distinctive patterns of small, sand balls radiating away from burrows (the result of feeding and ‘house-keeping’ activities). Indigenous, eastern Australia.
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