Coconut Crab Facts and Information
Around 1476 species of crabs are found all over the world. Where most of these species live in water. At the same time, there are some species that make their shelter on land instead of water. One of these crabs is the species of the coconut crab, which is considered to be one of the largest species of crabs as well as very dangerous.
This is the reason that if someone tries to touch them even by mistake, then these crabs do not take long to harm them. So in this article, we will discuss coconut crab facts and information and tell you how dangerous these crabs can be.
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Coconut Crab
In fact, coconut crabs are nothing less than a nightmare to watch, which is enough to give goosebumps to anyone. Let us tell you that the scientific name of Gigantic Robber Crabs is (Birgus latro) and these crabs also have the title of being the world’s largest terrestrial arthropods.
Juvenile coconut crabs protect themselves with the help of empty gastropod shells like hermit crabs. At the same time, after becoming an adult, these crabs leave these shells and keep themselves safe through the tough exoskeleton.
The coconut crab is also different from other species of crabs because a special type of organ is found in their body which is called branchiostegal lungs. Because of this organ, these crabs are able to breathe. By the way, the smelling power of these crabs is also amazing, with the help of which they search for their food.
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Coconut Crab Food Chain
Coconut crabs like to eat fruits, nuts, seeds, and piths of fallen trees, as well as baby turtles, dead animals, and rats. The funny thing is that these crabs find a potential source of food in everything lying on the ground and eat it. This is the reason why these crabs got the name robber crabs.
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Coconut Crab Size
Talking about the size and weight of coconut crabs, while these crabs can weigh more than 9 pounds (4 kg), their size can also be more than 1 meter. The location of these giant coconut crabs can be seen on islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as on Gambier Island. Not only this but they are also found in areas close to humans such as Australia and Madagascar, as well as in Zanzibar, a coastal region of Africa.
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Coconut crab-eating bird
As we told you earlier that coconut crabs are very dangerous and they do not miss attacking anyone when they are hungry. In such a situation, when a bird is found in front of this dangerous hunter, it does not hesitate to attack that bird. Along with this, when hungry, these crabs do not hold back from eating even small coconut crabs.
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Coconut crab breaking coconut hard surface
For your information, let me tell you that coconut crabs are very strong and for this reason, they can easily break the hard shell of a coconut. By the way, after breaking the hard shell, these crabs eat coconut. It is clear that the more strong and aggressive these crabs are, the more intelligent they are.
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Coconut crab attack on human
Coconut crabs are generally not aggressive toward humans, they have powerful claws which they use to crack open coconuts and other hard objects.
In rare cases, giant land crabs have been known to attack humans, especially if they feel threatened or cornered. Their claws are strong enough to crush bone, so it’s important to avoid provoking or shocking them.
Despite this, if they come face to face with a human and if they fall behind completely, then tell you that this crab can bite it with 3300-newton force, which is enough to give deep wounds.
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Human attack on coconut crab
Now you must have got an idea of the power of these crabs, but sometimes the game backfires because often these crabs become victims of human attacks. Due to hunting by humans, there has been a significant decrease in the population of coconut crabs in certain areas. Along with this, due to human activity and the felling of trees in their areas, the privacy of these crabs has also been disturbed.
Even in many cases, it has been found that coconut crabs are being killed even in road accidents. Because of this, today different types of campaigns are being run in many places to save or preserve these crabs.
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Coconut crab crushes stick
Coconut crabs are so strong that if these crabs are caught with a stick, then it has sworn that it will break the stick. By the way, these strong and stubborn crabs often eat their food only by choosing it from coconut or underwater. But in addition to finding food under trees, coconut crabs can also climb these trees. Especially when these crabs feel the threat of life.
Coconut crabs are commonly threatened by humans as well as large sea birds and old crabs. For this reason, these crabs sit on the top of the tree. Not only this, but these crabs can also eat food sitting on the top of the tree.
By the way, do you find it funny for crabs to climb trees and eat sitting on top of trees? You will definitely tell us in the comments. The funny thing is that many times they have also been seen falling down from the trees, which does not make much difference to them.
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People eating coconut crabs
Coconut crab can be very powerful. But they lose the battle of life in front of human power and greed and become victims of human attacks. You must have seen how even after these crabs are so dangerous, people do not miss eating them. It is not that the population of these crabs has only declined.
Coconut crabs Lifespan And Breeding
Every year these crabs perform the mating process in dry areas from May to September. On the other hand, after completing the mating process, females come to the seashore and lay eggs. A female coconut crab can lay around 0.15 million to 0.2 million eggs at a time. Female fertilizes these eggs in the sea.
Let us tell you that these larvae come to the bottom after staying in the water for about a month. These young crabs then spend the first 1 to 2 years of their lives with hermit crabs. In such a situation, they keep themselves safe by using the shell of a Hermit crab. But as these babies grow up, their own shell present on their body becomes much harder.
In such a situation, as soon as these babies are as big as 0.5 inches, they quit the lifestyle of Hermit crabs. Meaning we can say that the faster their numbers are decreasing, the faster they are born, so these crabs are maintaining balance in their population.
By the way, these little kids of coconut crabs are ready to carry out the mating process themselves at the age of five. Coconut crabs can typically live for about 60 years. male crab is much bigger than a female. These crabs have 10 legs and these legs are so strong that coconut crabs can lift up to 64 pounds (29 kg) of weight in an emergency.
Along with this, these crabs also clean the breathing organs with their legs. Along with lifting heavy weights, the grip of these crabs is also very strong. For this reason, they climb trees very easily.
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Coconut crab’s outer appearance
The body of coconut crabs looks like some decapods and colors like orange-red to purplish-blue red are found on their body. While other species of crabs spend almost their entire lives in water, these crabs can stay underwater for only a short time. That is, if these crabs are kept in water for more than an hour, there may be a chance of drowning.
However, it has been seen that as a person climbs stairs, sports or other similar physical activity reduces or almost stops with increasing age. Old coconut crabs also face the same problem. Even while living in water, old coconut crabs reduce climbing trees.
So this was the life story of the world’s most unique crabs species and the elements related to them. Do tell in the comments which fact you liked the most in the facts related to coconut crab and have you ever seen coconut crabs i.e. Robber crabs?
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