![]() ![]() ![]() Climbing is an immediate escape route (if too far from the burrow) to avoid predation by large sea birds (when young) or by humans, or cannibalism (at any age) by bigger, older crabs. No film shows a crab selectively picking coconut fruit, though they might dislodge ripe fruit that otherwise would fall naturally. ![]() Although it lives in a burrow, the crab has been filmed climbing coconut and pandanus trees. The species is popularly associated with the coconut palm, yet coconuts are not a significant part of its diet. Anything left unattended on the ground is a potential source of food, which they will investigate and may carry away – thereby getting the alternative name of "robber crab". They have an acute sense of smell which they use to find potential food sources, and which has developed convergently with that of insects.Īdult coconut crabs feed primarily on fleshy fruits, nuts, seeds, and the pith of fallen trees, but they will eat carrion and other organic matter opportunistically. After the juvenile stage, they will drown if immersed in water for too long. Coconut crabs have organs known as branchiostegal lungs, which they use for breathing instead of their vestigial gills. Juvenile coconut crabs use empty gastropod shells for protection like other hermit crabs, but the adults develop a tough exoskeleton on their abdomens and stop carrying a shell. It shows a number of adaptations to life on land. The coconut crab is the only species of the genus Birgus, and is related to the other terrestrial hermit crabs of the genus Coenobita. Coconut crabs also live off the coast of Africa near Zanzibar. It is found on islands across the Indian Ocean, and parts of the Pacific Ocean as far east as the Gambier Islands, Pitcairn Islands and Caroline Island, similar to the distribution of the coconut palm it has been extirpated from most areas with a significant human population, including mainland Australia and Madagascar. It can grow to up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in width from the tip of one leg to the tip of another. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9 lb). The coconut crab ( Birgus latro) is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. Cancer crumenatus orientalis Seba, 1759.Cancer crumenatus Rumphius, 1705 (pre-Linnean).Coconut crabs live on most coasts in the blue area red points are primary and yellow points secondary places of settlement ![]()
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