The Colorful Land Crab Gecarcinus Quadratus, Also Known As The Halloween Crab, Crawls Along A Beach In Costa Rica. Royalty-Free Stock Photo

The colorful land crab Gecarcinus quadratus, is also known as the red land crab, whitespot crab, halloween crab, moon crab, halloween moon crab, mouthless crab or harlequin land crab. They are found in mangrove, sand dunes and rainforest along the Pacific coast from Mexico south to Panama. The Holloween Crab has a pair of largely purple claws, red-orange legs, and an almost entirely black carapace with a pair of yellow, orange or reddish spots behind the eyes, and an additional pair of whitish spots on the central-lower carapace. This nocturnal crab digs burrows in the coastal rainforests of Central America and while it lives in the forest at least some of its adult life, the Gecarcinus quadratus needs to return to the ocean to breed.