Caught a wierd creature at the beach

[rdmpe]

I was at Playalinda beach this afternoon and these things were in the sand in the surf zone. A hand full of sand would turn up 4 or 5 of them. Anyone know what they are? They bury themselves in the sand.


view from above - water is pretty cloudy...

front view through the drinking glass

close up

bottom view

 

[Me No Nemo]

I think they are called "sand fleas."

 

[Lutefisk]

We used to call them sand crabs

Here's a website with information on the California edition
http://205.214.84.224/sandcrabs/

 

[shane 1111]

are they tank safe? as in can you put them in your tank?

 

[Me No Nemo]

I'd be hesitant...we've used them as bait for fishing in the past. I've never seen them kept in a tank. Marcye

 

[Mr Neutron]

Tidal/surf zone animals = nono for tanks.

Sand fleas

 

[DaveG99]

Good fishing bait.

 

[saltyj]

They catch big whitefish, but a no go for the tank

 

[waterfaller1]

No offense meant,but why are you bringing home odd creatures from the beach that you do not know what they are? You had no idea what it was,if it was safe..what it would eat. So now this poor thing will die? Not a responsible thing to do.

 

[rdmpe]

True, I should have left it at the beach. I guess I was being optimistic that I'd be able to put it in the tank. There were so many in the sand that one handfull would turn up half a dozen of them. Anyway, we will probably try it for bait to fish in the pond behind my house. I'm not really into fishing but my 8 and 10 yr olds are just discovering that they can fish in that pond...

 

[mcegelsk]

NEW RECORD...only 8 responses and there it was the had to drop Guilt trip....Bad Dog comment! Personally I would like to thank you, rdmpe for taking the time to post this. I learned a little about the creature and for that I'm grateful. If no one ever tried doing this...well then we wouldn't be on RC, it wouldn't exist, because we'd have nothing from the ocean cause everything dies at some point!!

 

[BoricuaMojao]

nope

nope

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6935768#post6935768 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcegelsk
If no one ever tried doing this...well then we wouldn't be on RC, it wouldn't exist, because we'd have nothing from the ocean cause everything dies at some point!!

This argument would only work if we where back in maybe 1940-1960.

Now, it is so easy to just log on to the net and whitin seconds get an answer of "what things are?".

It is irresponsible to just grab things and find out later.

By your argument, I could go grabbing any animal I run across while hiking, or diving and take it home. Who cares what it is?.... I should indulge my curious nature...after all " everything dies at some point!!"

BM

 

[waterfaller1]

I said no offense was meant...and it was'nt intended as a flame or "guilt trip" as you put it. What would happen if I set up a nano tank of say ten gallons today. Then I went to a LFS today.. and picked up a 2" fish and posted his picture here..asking what he was. Say for arguments sake it was a naso tang. Would'nt your care and concern for the animal's welfare overtake your feelings about whether to lay a "guilt trip" on me? Would'nt you advise me that researching before my purchase could've avoided a mistake such as this?
So..in this instance the animal in question could have been photographed in the same manner,but while still at the beach. He could have posted the pics and asked the same question. After finding out what it was,it's care requirements,etc..then a decision could have been made as to whether it was a safe thing to keep in an aquarium.
So..now it is fish bait... Have a nice day.

 

[Mr Neutron]

Man...it's a good thing he didn't mention the bottlenose dolphin he took home to put in that pond...

 

[robb_brennan]

LOL, its just a few sand fleas!!! They call em fleas because there all over the place. When they spawn the female's clutch has hundreds of eggs. Birds eat em, fish eat em, kids catch em all the time. No need to beat someone up for it.

BTW the only reason they wouldn't work in a reef tank is because they eat microorganisms and planktonic like creatures we dont support in our systems. That and you would never see them, they pretty buch stay burried with only their proboscus (however its spelled) sticking out of the sand.

 

[waterfaller1]

Geez ..noones beating anyone up for anything. Look..I know rdmpe personaly..he's a sensible and smart person. I don't think he is taking this as hard as you all are.

 

[saltyj]

hey it's funny that everyone is so up in arms about this, but another "fish site" is smart and catching these "fleas" and turning a profit. So why not leave waterfaller alone and go and here: http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_1...=4&PHPSESSID=a7437f50318331daf7435911c1716a26

and just buy some.

 

[robb_brennan]

Wow, $8.99 each for them! We should all go to the beach and sell em for $5.00 a pop.

 

[saltyj]

Well it is 8.99 for 5 of them, but it is still steep for a creture that you can go and catch by hand on just about any beach in FL.

 

[Lowredranger]

i brought some home one time and put them in my 20g tank for food for the mantis. Surprisingly they were swam around quite a bit. they would probably be good food for any of the large fish like the triggers or puffers.