• Aerial View of Padre Island National Seashore

    Padre Island

    National Seashore Texas

  • Please Be Cautious Sea Turtle Nesting Season Begin April 1, 2012

    If you are walking or driving on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore or elsewhere on the Texas coast, here is a great way that you can help save sea turtles. More »

Speckled Swimming Crab

Speckled Swimming Crab

UM Museum of Zoology

Ranging in size from two to five inches, this brightly-colored crab has light green spots on a darker, greenish-brown background. Like other swimming crabs, its hindmost legs are shaped like paddles that are well-adapted for swimming locomotion. Speckled swimming crabs can be found all along the Atlantic shorelines and from the Carolinas to Venezuela. They are also present, although less common, in the waters of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. This crab has a very aggressive temperament (similar to the Blue crab) and vicious pincers. The Speckled swimming crab burrows down into shifting sands where its colors allow it to camouflage perfectly with its surrounding substrate, waiting to ambush its prey. It enjoys areas of slight hyper-salinity and heavy surf, where it dines on Coquina clams and Mole crabs.

Did You Know?

The National Park Service arrowhead contains a white buffalo, an animal sacred to many native Americans.

Although Padre Nicolas Balli established the first permanent settlement on the island, the island was previously owned by his father and his grandfather, who obtained the original grant from the Spanish crown. More...