Crabology 101: All about crabs and bait

[buckethead]

I was fishing a few weeks ago and on the beach at night were these little crabs about 2" long. They were whitish and moved with lightning speed. I thought about using them for bait but there was no way I could catch them. Tried for about 5 minutes and gave up. Someone in a tackle shop told me they are called ghost crabs. Does anyone know more about them and have you ever seen them out there at night? Or was I imagining things, lol?

They are very light in color. They also move with lightning speed so you have to plan the shot if you want to get a pic. I have only seen them at night.

http://eol.org/pages/313161/details
Atlantic Ghost Crabs (Ocypode quadrata) are small crabs (up to around 50 mm) with squarish sand-colored shells having margins that are finely beaded but toothless; the claws are white. The space between the eyes is much shorter than the eyestalks. These crabs dig burrows above the intertidal zone on ocean beaches from Delaware (U.S.A.) through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.

They are occasionally found north to eastern Long Island and Rhode Island, but are uncommon north of Virginia. Atlantic Ghost Crabs are very active and can often be seen dashing into the retreating surf to wet their gills or to grab scraps of food ("Ocypode" means "swift-footed"), although they will drown if kept submerged.

Young crabs burrow just above the intertidal zone, but adults dig their burrows higher up, sometimes even behind the forward dunes. Burrows have a single opening and descend 0.6 to 1.2 meters at a 45 degree angle. Although these crabs are often out and about during the day, they are most active at night. (Gosner 1978)




Here is a pic of a ghost crab. Was lucky to get it. During one night fishing the full moon.