Crustaceans of Ocean City & Assateague

10 starter species curated for visitors—not every bay invertebrate. Likelihood stars rate how often a typical visitor might notice the species around OC / Assateague MD (1 rare · 5 common). Always respect horseshoe crab spawning beaches and Maryland crabbing rules if you harvest.

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Atlantic Ghost Crab Ocypode quadrata · Beach crustacean · ★★★★★ Night sprinter of Ocean City and Assateague beaches. Pale crabs that vanish into burrows above the wrack line. Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab Minuca pugnax · Crab · ★★★★★ Tiny marsh crabs that wave one oversized claw. NPS credits fiddler crabs with key roles in Assateague salt-marsh health. Atlantic Mole Crab Emerita talpoida · Beach crustacean · ★★★★★ Egg-shaped diggers of the swash zone. Sanderlings’ favorite prey and a classic Ocean City beach find. Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus · Crab · ★★★★★ Maryland’s signature crustacean. Swimming crabs of the coastal bays, Assateague marshes, and every crab house in Ocean City. Atlantic Horseshoe Crab Limulus polyphemus · Horseshoe crab · ★★★★☆ Ancient beach icon of Delaware Bay and Mid-Atlantic shores. Not a true crab, but essential to shorebirds and coastal ecology. Brown Shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus · Shrimp · ★★★☆☆ Commercial and forage shrimp of Mid-Atlantic bays, part of the bait and dinner web around Ocean City. White Shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus · Shrimp · ★★★☆☆ Pale bay and nearshore shrimp overlapping brown shrimp in Mid-Atlantic waters. Another piece of the OC baitfish and shrimp complex. American Lobster Homarus americanus · Lobster · ★★☆☆☆ Cold-water clawed lobster of the northwest Atlantic. More New England icon than Assateague beach find, but present offshore toward the Mid-Atlantic. Jonah Crab Cancer borealis · Crab · ★★☆☆☆ Chunky offshore Cancer crab of Mid-Atlantic bottoms. More likely on a deep charter than an Assateague walk. Mantis Shrimp Squilla empusa · Other · ★★☆☆☆ Burrowing stomatopod of Mid-Atlantic mud bottoms. Fierce little predators sometimes dug up or caught in nets around the bays.