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Image via themanyfacesofspaces

As the world’s largest land-living arthropod at up to 6ft and 30 lb, there’s no way one could ignore this remarkable crab. As the name implies, the life of a typical coconut crab revolves around just that – nuts! When young, they use the shells as temporary protection, later the coconut husk as bedding. And they love to crack the coconuts with their strong pincers to get to the delicacy inside.

Like 95% of all animal species, the coconut crab, (Birgus latro) belongs to the invertebrates and together with insects, arachnids and other crustaceans, makes up the division of arthropods. So far, so good and not very unusual. Among the latter, however, it is the largest land-living arthropod in the world.

The coconut crab so lovingly clutching the trash can in the next picture might be confused with a particularly realistic piece of art if it weren’t so bizarre.

Now you see it…

Image via arbroath

… now you don’t – well, sorta:

Image: fearlessRich

As is typical for many invertebrates, coconut crabs have exoskeletons, external skeletons that enclose the soft tissues and organs of the body. Given that coconut crabs can reach a weight of 14 kg (30 lbs) – roughly the weight of a four-year-old child – they represent the upper extent of how big terrestrial animals with exoskeletons can become in today’s atmosphere. And given that they can also reach lengths of up to 1.8 m (6 ft), that’s scarily big!

A brown and a blue coloured coconut crab in Bora Bora:

Image: Mila Zinkova

The coconut crab is named after its ability to crack coconuts with its strong pincers to get to the coconut flesh below. Though generally nocturnal and therefore in hiding during the day, coconut crabs are known to forage even in human habitats to look for food. As rumour has it, they also look for shiny objects, which has brought them the nickname robber crab – and even their Latin name latro means robber.

Used to clinging to palm trees…

Image via themanyfacesofspaces

We have to admit, it took us a while to get over that image. We sure hope that guy wasn’t ticklish. Or at least had very thick skin. Of the coconut crab’s 10 legs, it’s the front-most pair that is the strongest, with claws used for cracking open coconuts and lifting weights of up to 29 kg (64 lb) – double its own weight!

Coconut crabs vary in size and colouring:

Image: click-the-shutter

Unlike other crabs, coconut crabs cannot swim and therefore have no need to smell underwater. Their antennae, made to trace smells over long distances, look more like the smelling organs of insects. Their excellent sense of smell works overtime whenever they detect any of their favourites – rotting meat, bananas or coconuts.

As the map below shows, coconut crabs can be found in the coastal areas of most of the world’s southern oceans; red dots indicate primary and yellow dots secondary places of settlement.

Image: Pinpin

Yet even size cannot protect an animal from extinction and though the coconut crab can defend itself sufficiently from predators of the animal kind, it’s not so lucky with those of the human kind. Once word got out that coconut crabs are edible, considered a delicacy or even an aphrodisiac in some parts of the world, regional extinctions have been reported. However, conservation efforts are underway to maintain local coconut crab populations.

Sources: 1, 2

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