How does mole crabs evolve?
They evolved for what they do, dig. They have small bodies, longer than they are wide, so their holes don’t have to be wide. They don’t have pincers, which aren’t the best tools for digging, and they don’t need them for defense, because digging is their defense. “Among the smallest of the crabs, the mole crab – like other crabs – has five pairs of legs, but they do not have pincers, and, rather than walking sideways, they always move backwards. Females grow to about one inch, while males grow to about half an inch. You can find mole crabs by digging a hole in the sand at the very edge of the wash from the waves. Allow water to enter the hole, and swish it around. You should see mole crabs darting through the water before they quickly burry themselves in the sand. The eyes of the mole crab are on slender, white, hair-width stalks (the shorter, white projections on the right side of the crab in the upper photo). While it is not easy to know the first time which end of a mole crab is the
