We’re home from our Fijian adventure now after a particularly annoying return trip involving 3 hours of sitting on the apron at DFW Airport waiting to get off the plane and missing a connection as a result. As an aside, all of our travel problems on this trip related to ground services at DFW, either luggage or gate handling. Regardless, the trip was still amazing and we’re all feeling a bit down that it is over so soon. I could happily stay in Fiji a lot longer than two weeks.
Looking back at what I’ve posted so far, I’m surprised to see no crabs in the mix. The beach outside Sigasiga Sands where we stayed had many different crab species scuttling around and I had fun trying to photograph them. These included at least two different types of fiddler crab. Here’s the larger of the ones we spotted. This is a Thick-Legged Fiddler Crab (Paraleptuca crassipes) and the biggest ones we saw were about 1.5 inches across the widest part of their shells. They live in sand burrows and defend the entrance with their large, red claw. As you walk towards a colony, the sand will appear to be covered in red dots which disappear en masse as you approach. Sit down and wait a few minutes, and the burrow occupants will slowly start to emerge again giving you a chance to see their brightly coloured black, white, turquoise and red bodies.
For the technically inclined...