Ocypode brevicornis

Ocypode brevicornis was first described by the French zoologist Henri Milne-Edwards in 1837. However, his type specimens consisted only of two juvenile individuals from Pondicherry, India. In 1852, he again described the same species from adult specimens recovered from the same area as Ocypode platytarsis. In 1880, the American zoologist John Sterling Kingsley synonymized Ocypode brevicornis with Ocypode ceratophthalma. As a result, only Ocypode platytarsis was regarded as valid for the entirety of the 20th century. And most literature concerning the species refer to it as Ocypode platytarsis. In 2013, the Japanese carcinologist Katsushi Sakai and German carcinologist Michael Türkay discovered that the type specimens of Ocypode brevicornis and Ocypode platytarsis belonged to the same species. They restored the validity of the earlier name Ocypode brevicornis. ==Description==

Ocypode brevicornis are large ghost crabs with deep bodies. ==Ecology==

Like other ghost crabs, Ocypode brevicornis live in deep burrows near the intertidal zone of open sandy beaches. They are generalists, scavenging carrion and debris as well as preying on small animals. They are primarily nocturnal, though they may emerge during the day. They are swift runners, darting away to their burrows at the slightest sign of danger, even when the intruder sighted is still away. However, they can be approached much more closely at night, though they may still try to escape if illuminated. ==Distribution==

Ocypode brevicornis are restricted to the Indian Ocean. They can be found from the Gulf of Oman to India, Sri Lanka, and the Nicobar Islands. They are one of six ghost crab species found in the Indian subcontinent, the others being Ocypode ceratophthalma, Ocypode cordimanus, Ocypode macrocera, Ocypode pallidula, and Ocypode rotundata. == See also ==