Coenobita brevimanus

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Coenobita brevimanus
Coenobita brevimanus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Coenobitidae
Genus: Coenobita
Species:
C. brevimanus
Binomial name
Coenobita brevimanus
Dana, 1852

Coenobita brevimanus is a species of terrestrial hermit crab belonging to the family Coenobitidae, which is composed of coastal living terrestrial hermit crabs. From there it belongs to the genus Coenobita , one of two genera split from the family, which contains sixteen species. The Latin origins of the species name, brevimanus, come from the adjective brevis ("small") and the noun manus ("hands"). It is known as the Indos crab or Indonesian crab because it is primarily distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Contents

Description

C. brevimanus is one of the larger species in the genus Coenobita. The adults can grow up to .5 pounds (230 g). They can live 12–70 years and are known to grow to the size of a coconut. During the beginning of the crab's juvenile stage the middle of its carapace possesses a long reddish pigment area as does each side wall of the carapace. As the crab reaches one month old these areas develop into a brown stripe down the middle of the carapace and two brown bands on either side wall of the carapace. The rest of the carapace as well as the pereiopods slowly transition from a white color to a grayish color. Eventually, when they reach full adulthood, they are brownish red with violet shading on their limbs. The brown stripe and bands are still present in the adult crabs. They are darker than most other species of its genus. [1] They have an abdominal lung and extremely reduced gills due to their terrestrial lifestyle. [2] They also have a disproportionately large dark purple pincher and long black eye stalks which they can easily be identified by. There is also a pink variation of C. brevimanus in which their dominant pincher is pink instead of a dark purple. Compared to other species in their genus, they do not prefer large gastropod shells, and the armored variation of this crab, in which a tougher exoskeleton is present, specifically likes small shells that only cover their body past their third pair of walking legs. Although their availability and demand has risen in recent years, they are not commonly kept as pets due to their size, but they are the largest land hermit crab known to be in captivity. [3]

Distribution and habitat

C. brevimanus is native to the east coast of Africa and south-west Pacific Ocean. It has also been reported in East Africa, the Philippines, Japan, China, and Taiwan. They usually reside inland and away from the coastline in moist environments such as rainforests because they do not like to get wet, but still require a high amount of humidity. Generally, they require at least eighty percent humidity and enjoy temperatures between eighty and eighty-five degrees, which influences their distribution greatly towards tropical zones. [4] The present record of this species suggests a continuous distribution from the east coast of Africa to the south-west Pacific Ocean. [5]

Behavior and ecology

This purple hermit crab is using a soup can as a shell because there were no large snail shells left in the area, probably due to collection for the souvenir market. Purple hermit crab in can.jpg
This purple hermit crab is using a soup can as a shell because there were no large snail shells left in the area, probably due to collection for the souvenir market.

C. brevimanus larvae are brooded inside the female's shell, then laid in seawater. This is the only time the adult C. brevimanus returns to the water after they reach adulthood. They grow from the larval planktonic stage to the megalopal stage before migrating from the sea to the land. They also develop a habit of acquiring discarded gastropod shells for inhabitation before migration. If gastropod shells are not present, often due to the collection for the souvenir market, they can be seen using soup cans and other litter as shells. After they acquire their shell, they migrate onto land. [6] After this migration they are fully terrestrial, being the most terrestrial species in the genus Coenobita, often found over one hundred meters from the coast. As they grow on land, they tend to molt around every eighteen months, in which they burrow underground, molt, and then come up when their exoskeleton is no longer soft. This process can take upwards to a month. [7] They are highly active during the month of July, with an increase in activity in the months leading up to July, and a decrease in activity after the month of July. [8] Although they are terrestrial, they can only tolerate a 28% loss of body water. Beyond this point a severe disruption in oxygen transport occurs. They also have difficulty recovering from periods of dehydration. In order to prevent dehydration they fill their shells with brackish or fresh water. [9] They have the ability to detect volatile chemicals in the air in relation to food and water sources and orient themselves accordingly, which is useful in finding food and unevenly distributed inland water supplies. [10] They are omnivores and scavenger feeders who operate primarily at night. They tend to prefer fish over fruits when given the option between the two. They have also been known to prey on smaller species of hermit crabs, such as C. rugosus, making them not only scavengers, but also predators. [11]

Taxonomy

Coenobita brevimanus was first taxonomically classified in 1852 by Dana. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermit crab</span> Superfamily of crustaceans (Paguroidea)

Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an asymmetric abdomen concealed by a snug-fitting shell. Hermit crabs' soft (non-calcified) abdominal exoskeleton means they must occupy shelter produced by other organisms or risk being defenseless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean hermit crab</span> Species of crustacean

The Caribbean hermit crab, also known as the soldier crab, West Atlantic crab, tree crab, or purple pincher, is a species of land hermit crab native to the west Atlantic, Belize, southern Florida, Venezuela, and the West Indies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian land hermit crab</span> Species of crustacean

The Australian land hermit crab is a terrestrial hermit crab species, native to Australia. It is a nocturnal, omnivorous crustacean. They are gregarious and thrive in tropical areas near water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coenobitidae</span> Family of crustaceans

The Coenobitidae are the family of terrestrial hermit crabs, widely known for their land-living habits as adults. They are found in coastal tropical regions around the world and require access to the ocean to breed.

<i>Coenobita</i> Genus of crustaceans

The genus Coenobita contains 17 species of terrestrial hermit crabs. Several species in this genus are kept as pets.

<i>Kiwa</i> (crustacean) Genus of crustaceans

Kiwa is a genus of marine decapods living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The animals are commonly referred to as "yeti lobsters" or "yeti crabs”, after the legendary yeti, because of their "hairy" or bristly appearance. The genus is placed in its own family, Kiwaidae, in the superfamily Chirostyloidea.

<i>Coenobita perlatus</i> Species of crustacean

Coenobita perlatus is a species of terrestrial hermit crab. It is known as the strawberry hermit crab because of its reddish-orange colours. It is a widespread scavenger across the Indo-Pacific, and wild-caught specimens are traded to hobby aquarists.

<i>Coenobita cavipes</i> Species of crustacean

Coenobita cavipes is a species of land hermit crab native to the eastern parts of Africa, the Indonesia, Philippines, China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Polynesia, and Micronesia. While these hermit crabs are terrestrial, they prefer to reside near the shores for access of both water and land.

<i>Coenobita rugosus</i> Species of crustacean

Coenobita rugosus is a species of land hermit crab native to Indonesia, Australia and the east African coast to the south west Pacific.

<i>Coenobita purpureus</i> Species of crustacean

Coenobita purpureus, known generally as the Okinawan blueberry hermit crab or blueberry hermit crab, is a species of land hermit crab in the family Coenobitidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gecarcinidae</span> Family of crabs

The Gecarcinidae, the land crabs, are a family of true crabs that are adapted for terrestrial existence. Similar to all other crabs, land crabs possess a series of gills. In addition, the part of the carapace covering the gills is inflated and equipped with blood vessels. These organs extract oxygen from the air, analogous to the vertebrate lungs. Adult land crabs are terrestrial, but visit the sea periodically, where they breed and their larvae develop. Land crabs are tropical omnivores which sometimes cause considerable damage to crops. Most land crabs have one of their claws larger than the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coconut crab</span> Species of crustacean

The coconut crab is a terrestrial species of giant hermit crab, and is also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod known, with a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9 lb). The distance from the tip of one leg to the tip of another can be as wide as 1 m. It is found on islands across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as far east as the Gambier Islands, Pitcairn Islands and Caroline Island and as far south as Zanzibar. While its range broadly shadows the distribution of the coconut palm, the coconut crab has been extirpated from most areas with a significant human population such as mainland Australia and Madagascar.

<i>Vermicularia spirata</i> Species of gastropod

Vermicularia spirata, common name the West Indian worm-shell or the West Indian wormsnail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turritellidae. Juveniles can move around, but larger individuals become sessile.

Calcinus tubularis is a species of hermit crab. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and around islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where it lives below the intertidal zone. Its carapace, eyestalks and claws are marked with numerous red spots. C. tubularis and its sister species, C. verrilli, are the only hermit crabs known to show sexual dimorphism in shell choice, with males using normal marine gastropod shells, while females use shells of gastropods in the family Vermetidae, which are attached to rocks or other hard substrates.

<i>Coenobita scaevola</i> Species of crustacean

Coenobita scaevola is a species of terrestrial hermit crab from the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea.

Coenobita lila is a species of land hermit crab in the genus Coenobita Latreille, 1829. Coenobita lila is described from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

<i>Diogenes heteropsammicola</i> Species of crustaceans

Diogenes heteropsammicola is a species of hermit crab discovered during samplings between 2012 and 2016 in the shallow waters of the Japanese Amami Islands. This D. heteropsammicola is strongly associated with the walking corals. This hermit crab species is unique due to the discovery that they use living, growing coral as a shell. The live in the inside of the coral and vary from other types of hermits. Crustaceans of this type commonly replace their shell as the organism grows in size, but D. heteropsammicola are the first of their kind to use solitary corals as a shell form. Heteropsammia and Heterocyathus are the two solitary corals that this hermit species has been observed as occupying. These two coral species are also used as a home by symbiotic sipunculans of the genus Aspidosiphon, which normally occupy the corals that were previously occupied by crabs.

Coenobita rubescens is a species of terrestrial (land-living) hermit crab, family Coenobitidae.

Coenobita pseudorugosus is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, family Coenobitidae.

References

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  3. Hsu C-H, Otte ML, Liu C-C, Chou J-Y, Fang W-T (2018) What are the sympatric mechanisms for three species of terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita rugosus, C. brevimanus, and C. cavipes) in coastal forests? PLoS ONE 13(12): e0207640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207640
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  9. Burggren, W., & McMahon, B. (Eds.). (1988). Biology of the Land Crabs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. dio:10.1017/CBO9780511753428
  10. Vannini, Jacopo Ferretti; Chemoreception in Two Species of Terrestrial Hermit Crabs (Decapoda: Coenobitidae), Journal of Crustacean Biology, Volume 17, Issue 1, 1 January 1997, Pages 33–37, doi : 10.1163/193724097X00061
  11. Hsu C-H, Otte ML, Liu C-C, Chou J-Y, Fang W-T (2018) What are the sympatric mechanisms for three species of terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita rugosus, C. brevimanus, and C. cavipes) in coastal forests? PLoS ONE 13(12): e0207640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207640
  12. Lemaitre, R.; McLaughlin, P. (2019). World Paguroidea & Lomisoidea database. Coenobita brevimanus Dana, 1852. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=208656 on 2019-02-27