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Sand fleas! [OC] (pixelfed.crimedad.work)

submitted 3 months ago by CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work to c/pics@lemmy.world

25 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.crimedad.work/post/111744

cross-posted from: https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/723334816014531775

I suppose I like Walz, too, but how is it going to feel listening to him trying to justify sending more weapons to Israel?

Anyway, here are a pair of sand fleas my kid and her cousins found at the beach.

#macro #beach #FireIsland #crustacean #WeWantWalz #FreePalestine

@crosspost@lemmy.crimedad.work

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[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 34 points 3 months ago

We always called those "sand crabs" and these sand fleas

Those are also called "sand flies," and they actually bite and suck blood and stuff. The things linked really are little crabs - we used to fish with them.

[-] Xanthrax@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago

Hated those in Virginia. We'd call them horse flies, but we just called any fly that bites a horse fly.

[-] usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 months ago

Isn't that a robber fly?

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

You know, on the page I found it, it says it's a sand fly, but I think you're right. Sand flys are really small, and I'm not sure I've seen a magnified version of them. Looking for other images, I think this is really one and the other is mislabeled:

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

Isn’t that a Little Fly?

[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 3 points 3 months ago

Looks kind of like what I used to call horse flies.

[-] protist@mander.xyz 30 points 3 months ago

Those are definitely sand crabs, genus Emerita

[-] grue@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Bugs is bugs.

[-] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 months ago

We used to dig for them at the beach and put them all in one bucket with sand and water and watch them swim and dig and try to hide

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Same!

[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 3 points 3 months ago

This is exactly what my kid and nieces were doing lol.

[-] kylie_kraft@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago

nope

[-] Broken_Monitor@lemmy.world 27 points 3 months ago

Totally harmless, if a bit ugly. Not sure why we called them sand crabs when I was a kid and would catch them in a bucket. All they do is try to burrow and hide under wet sand, so when you hold them they try to crawl into your hand. It tickles a little.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 3 points 3 months ago

so when you hold them they try to crawl into your hand

Nope

[-] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

They jump on your legs when you try and sleep on the beach. 0/10

[-] Broken_Monitor@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago

What? No way, these things can’t jump! There might be actual sand fleas or other bugs that do that, but not what this guy has in the picture

[-] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 2 points 3 months ago

They'll stay still for a while in your hand, but then start trying to scurry causing them to clumsily "jump" away.

[-] GlassHalfHopeful@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

We always called them sand fleas within our family. Never really knew what their real name was and hadn't realized others called them sand fleas as well. We often used them as bait for fishing.

[-] MudSkipperKisser@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

I remember digging those up on vacation in Naples Florida in the summers. We used to call them sand fleas too, although I now think that’s not the correct term

[-] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

You can eat them. Boil them like shrimp.

Source: Jon C., a friend from work who used to dig them up and sell them.

[-] protist@mander.xyz 20 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

In some cultures, sand crabs are eaten as a popular snack, such as in Thailand. They are often prepared via shallow frying in a pan or deep frying in batter. The taste is often described as falling somewhere between that of shrimp and crab. Eating sand crabs presents a risk of paralytic shellfish poisoning and/or infection with Profilicollis parasites.