The red rock crab (Grapsus grapsus), also known as "Sally Lightfoot", is one of the commonest crabs along the western seaboard of the Americas. John Steinbeck wrote of them, "Everyone who has seen them has been delighted with them ... These little crabs, with brilliant cloisonné carapaces, walk on their tiptoes, they have remarkable eyes and an extremely fast reaction time." He tried to catch them but to little avail. "If you walk slowly, they move slowly ahead of you in droves. If you hurry, they hurry. When you plunge at them, they seem to disappear in a puff of blue smoke."Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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