Sally Lightfoot
Galapagos crabs
scrambling over lava rocks
Called Sally Lightfoot
The bright orange crabs are called Sally Lightfoot (Grapsus grapsus). Per the Galapagos Conservation Trust: "Sally Lightfoot crabs are brightly-coloured coastal scavengers, found in the Galapagos Islands and across the western coast of South and Central America. They have an extremely generalist diet, feeding on anything from sea lion placenta to other crabs. This makes them an important part of the ecosystem, as they provide services such as keeping the shore clean of any organic debris and eating ticks off marine iguanas. They are rumoured to have been named after a Caribbean dancer, due to their agility in jumping from rock to rock, their ability to run in four directions, and their capacity to climb up vertical slopes."
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