MOLE CRAB

also called sand bug (Emerita, or Hippa, talpoida) crab of the Atlantic beaches from New England to Mexico. It is so named from its digging mole-fashion in sand. The shell is about 3.75 centimetres (1.5 inches) long, somewhat egg shaped and yellowish white with purplish markings. It lives on beaches in the intertidal zone. E. analoga, a broader and flatter species, occurs on the California coast.