Also known as the robber crab and terrestrial hermit crab, the Indo-Pacific coconut crab reigns supreme as the largest arthropod on Earth.
Epic Wildlife / YouTubeA coconut crab , also known as a robber crab , climbs a deoxyephedrine can in lookup of something to eat .
“ Monstrous . ” That was the only word Charles Darwin could chance to describe the coconut crab when he first saw one for himself .
Of course , anyone who ’s ever seen this animate being can tell right forth that it ’s no average crustacean . As the tumid land Phthirius pubis in the earthly concern , the coconut crab ’s size alone is intimidating . It weighs up to nine pound sign , debase three feet long , and can carry more than six time its own body weight .
Epic Wildlife/YouTubeA coconut crab, also known as a robber crab, climbs a trash can in search of something to eat.
Back in Darwin ’s time , many minacious taradiddle diffuse about coconut crabs .
Some tell stories about them climbing a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and dangling from it for hour — guard on with nothing more than a undivided tweezer . Others claim that their claws could break through a cocoanut . And some believed that they could snap a human being aside , limb from tree branch .
Ever skeptical , Darwin did n’t believe most of what he ’d heard . But eerily , none of it was really an exaggeration . Since then , we ’ve found out that every story about what a coconut crab can do is more or less genuine .
Wikimedia CommonsThose who have been pinched by a coconut crab say it hurts like “eternal hell.”
Why The Coconut Crab Is So Powerful
Wikimedia CommonsThose who have been pinched by a cocoa palm crabmeat say it hurts like “ interminable hell . ”
The coconut crab — sometimes called a robber crab — boast powerful chela , which are some of the most life-threatening weapons in the animal kingdom . Experts say a speck from this crab canrival a social lion ’s bite . So there ’s no head that they can do some terrifying things with their claws .
But the good news for humans is that the crabby person do n’t ordinarily apply their claws on us . As the name suggest , the coconut crab ’s independent source of food is coconuts . And since most of these wight live on islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans , they unremarkably have no trouble receive their favorite food for thought .
Wikimedia CommonsCoconut crabs on Bora Bora, pictured in 2006.
Still , it ’s a bit unnerving to watch a coconut meat pubic louse break open a coconut with nothing more than its bare claws . It ’s even more unsettling when you hear that coconut palm are n’t the only things that they can tear apart .
As omnivorous creatures , coconut Crab are unforced to eat both plant life and animals . They ’ve been known to kill birds , feast on kittens , and pull apart pig carcass . Eerily , they ’ve also been known topractice cannibalism — and they will rarely waffle to eat other coconut pediculosis pubis .
In shortsighted , almost nothing is off the menu for a robber crab louse . They ’ll even eat their own exoskeletons . Like most crabs , they shed their exoskeleton to grow new ones . But when their old , molted shell fall off , they do n’t leave it behind in the wilderness like other crab louse . Instead , they eat the whole affair .
Wikimedia CommonsAmelia Earhart, pictured here shortly before her disappearance in 1937. While her exact fate has never been determined, some believe that Amelia Earhart was eaten by coconut crabs after crashing on an uninhabited island.
How The Robber Crab Gets Its Food
Wikimedia CommonsCoconut crabs on Bora Bora , see in 2006 .
Thanks to their strong pincers , these crustacean can climb just about anything they see — from the outgrowth of a tree to the chain of a fencing . Despite the coconut crab ’s size , it can hang off an physical object for hours .
This is one of the main ways they get their food — especially their beloved coconut . By climbing to the tops of coconut trees and pink the fruit off , they can treat themselves to a nice repast once they climb down .
Wikimedia CommonsAs one might imagine, the coconut crab’s size means that this crustacean has plenty of meat.
But as one might expect , they do n’t just climb trees to get coconuts . They also surmount branch to run for Bronx cheer — attack them at the top of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and then dragging them down to the burrows where they live .
In 2017 , scientist Mark Laidredescribed their attack strategyin awful item . It was on an island where the birds stayed at the very big top of the trees to deflect coconut crabs . However , they were n’t always able to escape .
“ In the middle of the night , I observed a coconut crab plan of attack and kill an adult red - footed booby , ” said Laidre , a biologist who has canvass the crustacean . “ The booby had been sleeping on a low - lying branch , less than a metre up the tree diagram . The crabmeat slow climbed up and grabbed the pinhead ’s wing with its claw , breaking the bone and causing the booby to diminish to the ground . ”
But the robber crab louse was n’t quite done torture its prey yet . “ The crab then go about the bird , grabbing and breaking its other wing , ” Laidre keep on . “ No matter how much the booby struggle or pecked at the hard shell of the Cancer the Crab , it could n’t get it to allow go . ”
Then , the swarm occur . “ Five more coconut crabs came to the site within 20 minute , in all probability remind in on the blood , ” Laidre recalled . “ As the boob lay paralyse , the Cancer struggle , eventually snap the dame asunder . ”
All the crabs then took a hunk of meat from the mutilated razzing ’s body — and quickly carried it back to their burrow so they could have a feast .
Did Coconut Crabs Eat Amelia Earhart?
Wikimedia CommonsAmelia Earhart , depict here briefly before her disappearing in 1937 . While her exact fate has never been determined , some believe that Amelia Earhart was eaten by coconut Crab after crash on an uninhabited island .
Coconut crab louse do n’t ordinarily endeavor to hurt the great unwashed , but there have been exception . world are their only predators ( aside from other coconut crabs ) , and when they ’re aim , they will affect back .
Some the great unwashed who live on island in the Pacific Ocean havefound that outthe hard way . While searching for coconut husks , some local anaesthetic have made the misapprehension of position their fingers into the crabmeat ’ tunnel . In response , the crab would strike — give people the worst tinge of their lives .
So there ’s no question that a robber crab would set on humans if provoked . But would it eat one of us ? If so , that leads us to one of story ’s most bizarre mysteries : Did cocoanut crabs eat Amelia Earhart ?
In 1940 , researchersfound a fractured skeletonon Nikumaroro Island that had been torn asunder . It ’s believed that this may have been the body of Amelia Earhart — the famous female aviator who disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 . And if that consistence indeed belong to Earhart , then some experts cerebrate she may have been snap apart by coconut crabs .
It ’s worth noting that the mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart has never been completely puzzle out . But according to this theory , Earhart crashed on the uninhabited island and was leave alone either dead or become flat on its beach . Like the red - footed booby , Amelia Earhart ’s blood may have lured the coconut crabs who were last in the island ’s hush-hush burrows .
A team of scientists ran a test in 2007 to see what the cocoa palm crabs would have done to Amelia Earhart if they found her beat or go bad body on the beach . They will a slob carcase at the site where Earhart may have crashed .
Just as they imagined might have happened to Earhart , the robber crab emerged and tore the pig to shreds . Then , they dragged the flesh down to their underground lair and ate it right off the bones .
If that indeed happen to Earhart , then she may have been the only soul on Earth who was eaten by coconut crabs . But as terrible as this suppositious death sound , you probably do n’t have to worry about something like this happening to you .
The trueness is that coco crabs often have more grounds to fear humans than the other means around .
Can You Eat Coconut Crabs?
Wikimedia CommonsAs one might imagine , the coconut crab ’s size means that this crustacean has flock of nub .
For all the talking about this animal ’s terrifying feeding use , some adventuresome foodies might be curious as to whether they can eat coconut bellyache themselves . As it turn out , coconut Phthirius pubis are indeed edible for homo .
On some island in the Indian and Pacific Oceans , these Crab are served as a delicacy or sometimes even as an aphrodisiac . So many local have enjoyed wipe out these crustacean for hundred now . And visitant on the islands have also enjoyed give them a try . Even Charles Darwin once admitted that the Phthirius pubis were “ very just to eat . ”
One way that locals on the Atafu atoll gear up this Phthirius pubis is by making a pile of coconut fronds , putting the crustacean on top , covering them with more fronds , and then get down the whole pile on fire . Then , they rinse the Cancer the Crab in the ocean , put them on plate weaved from more fronds , and use coconuts to go bad start the shells of the crabs to get to the sum .
The cocoa palm crab is enunciate to taste “ pantry ” and “ honeyed . ” Interestingly enough , the abdominal sack is reportedly the “ good ” part of the crab . To some , it tastes “ slenderly nuts ” while others swear it try out just like goober pea butter . Some eat the pubic louse with coconut , while others enjoy the crustacean by itself . consider the coconut crab ’s size , it make a pretty filling meal on its own .
However , just because you may eat them does n’t necessarily intend that you should . In late years , the overhunting and over - harvesting of coconut crabs have led to fears that they may be threatened or even jeopardize .
In addition , a few coconut crabs may be dangerous to eat — if the animals have fed on sure toxic plant . While most masses eat the crustaceans without a job , pillowcase of coco palm Cancer poisoning have occurred .
But count how scary these animals are when they ’re alert , it almost seems fitting that there ’s a spot of a risk of exposure consume them after they ’re dead .
From the coconut crab ’s massive size to its powerful claw , there ’s no question that it ’s one of the most terrifying and unique creatures on Earth . And for C of year , this crustacean has certainly leave a big printing on anyone lucky enough — or doomed enough — to chance it .
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