Huge numbers of tuna crabs, which are actually a species of squat lobster, have been gathering off the coast of southern California in the US and washing up on beaches. The crabs are thought to have been drawn from their usual habitat further south by warmer seas, probably caused by a weather pattern called El Niño.
● LIFESPAN: Three years.
● HABITAT: Typically on the seabed off the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico.
● SIZE: 2.5 to 7.6 centimetres long.
● DIET: Plankton and other tiny organisms, but they have been seen eating each other too.
● FUN FACT: Tuna crabs get their name because they are often eaten by tuna fish. However, they are also gobbled up by a type of bat from Mexico, various birds, horn sharks,…