fiddler crabs

Fiddler crabs are very tiny and they are a favorite food of Sheephead fish. We see Fiddler crabs in groups on the sandy shores of little uninhabited islands along the saltwater river. They scurry around in groups, or pop into their little holes when they see us.

Thousands of crabs hurry up into the mangroves to hide as we approach. They are very tiny and difficult to photograph. I do however have a pretty cool video – below.

During Sheepshead fishing season, local bait shops sell fiddler crabs to fishermen. Unfortunately, Sheepshead fishing is very popular because it’s good eating fish, and the crabs are often sold out. You can catch your own Fiddlers, but we never have. But we do sometimes specifically look for sheepshead. They are often found around docks and piers where they eat barnacles clinging to the pylons.

All three photos below show Fiddler crabs but they are so tiny it’s hard to make them out.

low tide island beach — Where the fiddler crabs live

Fiddler crabs among mangroves — Where the fiddler crabs live

Low tide is a good time to see Fiddler crabs scurrying around the grasses and mangroves. They need the water to survive, but can’t live submerged. They scurry into little holes in the sand and hide there when the water comes up as explained at the Florida Fish and Wildlife page.

Grass and sand where fiddler crabs live — This is home to fiddler crabs

My phone doesn’t take great zoom photos, but I had to get this crab photo without scaring him into his hole. The male crabs have one large claw so I would say this is a male and these crabs are very tiny. Little piles of sand pellets are left all around the holes they make.

The Fiddler crab doesn’t have a long life span, but is an important food source for more than just crustacean loving fish.

For some reason my “Florida’s Living Beaches” (affiliate link to Amazon) reference book does not mention this type of crab. I have the first edition of this book, so they may be mentioned in the second edition. I am surprised at this omission because they are an important part of the coastal ecosystem.

My information on this page came from reliable online sources mentioned in this article. All photos are my own.

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We took the boat up to Disappearing Island the other day and spent some time in the water. On the way, we passed this huge yacht. (Disappearing Island is at the mouth of Ponce Inlet in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on the East coast. I hate to read blogs when I have no idea where people are, so thought I’d just include that bit of into.)

The ocean and Indian River water temps are now in the mid to upper 80’s, and hotter in shallower water. The air temperature was also very hot, so I pretty much stayed submerged in ocean water as much as I could. It was not refreshing, but at least I didn’t feel like I was baking in an oven!

However, I did walk around a bit and got some photos of a few interesting bits of wildlife, which is all mentioned below. I saw the usual crown conchs, lightning whelks, shark’s eyes, pear whelks, which were being carried along by hermit crabs. I write about those endlessly, so search my blog posts if you are interested.

I also found many tiny Dosinia shells, which are a favorite seashell find of mine. Usually the ones I see are much bigger. Maybe the back of this island is a good place for the babies to hatch, I don’t know, but something ate these. It could have been a red egret, like the one I watched feeding in this area. Actually I don’t know if they eat mollusks.

Tiny Dosinia seashells — Little Dosinias

This Egret Was Fun to Watch

The top photo is mine, and the bottom, much nicer photo, was taken by another Floridian who shares his photos on Pixabay. Since I am not at all a good wildlife photographer, I had to show my readers what a pretty bird this is.

I watched as this egret danced around, apparently to confuse the fish, then he would grab up a little fish to eat. He worked hard for his meal!

The Fiddler Crabs

The Fiddler crab lives in sandy grass areas and we see them quite a bit out on the islands. They are very small – maybe an inch across – and scurry into their holes as soon as a human approaches. I had to stand very still to get the photo of the crab just emerging from his hole. I don’t have patience, but soon enough the little crabs would peek out.

Sheepshead fish love to eat the Fiddler crab, and fishermen use them as bait when targeting Sheepshead. I’m guessing that hundreds of fiddlers live in this grassy area. I see them run as I approach!

The Blue Crab

This crab with the blue legs and claws must be a Blue Crab, but it doesn’t look like the other blue crabs we saw, which were bigger. It was either a juvenile or a female – at least that is my guess. I don’t know much about these crabs.

blue crab young juvenile — This little thing made himself all big and bad by showing me his outstretched claws!

As I approached this little crab he / she stood up on back legs and spread her claws. As I got closer she tried to spread them out wider to fend me off. Pretty brave little thing! I didn’t want to bother her too much so took a few pics and left him / her alone.

Water, Water Everywhere

Florida is a state that exists just above sea level. I feel like one big tidal wave could wash us all away.

Beached behind Disappearing Island — Enjoying the hot summer at Disappearing Island

This last photo is looking east, toward the ocean beaches, with the high-rise condos. Before we beached our boat here, we rode out the inlet (Ponce Inlet) into the ocean (photo below). Our Hewe’s Redfisher flats boat is not made for ocean boating, but my son likes to go out, just off the inlet, when the water is calm.

Below is the photo I took looking back at the beach from the ocean. So basically these photos are front and back of the condos.