| Thukuhar shore-crab | |
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| Species: | M. thukuhar |
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| Metopograpsus thukuhar (Owen, 1839) | |
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The thukuhar shore-crab (Metopograpsus thukuhar), also known as alamihi crab, [2] is a species of crab that lives in mangroves all over from Africa to Fiji.
A mangrove inhabitant, it is found all over mangrove forests of Hawaii, Madagascar, Mauritius, Sumatra, Japan, Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji. [3]
Male grows up to maximum length of 5 cm. Carapace and legs brownish-yellow or brownish red in color along with mottling. Claws violet in adults and pinkish in juveniles. [4]
The species is well distributed in mangrove regions mainly in Rhizophora mucronata and Ceriops tagal zones, hiding through mangrove roots. It is an omnivore feeds both on water plants, mangrove associates and animal carcasses. It is not a burrowing crab species, only live around lower trunk regions and roots. [5]
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have special adaptations to take in extra oxygen and to remove salt, which allow them to tolerate conditions that would kill most plants. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several plant families. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. Mangrove plant families first appeared during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene epochs, and became widely distributed in part due to the movement of tectonic plates. The oldest known fossils of mangrove palm date to 75 million years ago.
Ghost crabs are semiterrestrial crabs of the subfamily Ocypodinae. They are common shore crabs in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, inhabiting deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The name "ghost crab" derives from their nocturnality and their generally pale coloration. They are also sometimes called sand crabs, though the name refers to various other crabs that do not belong to the subfamily.
Mangrove crabs are crabs that live in and around mangroves. They belong to many different species and families and have been shown to be ecologically significant by burying and consuming leaf litter. Mangrove crabs have a variety of phylogenies because mangrove crab is an umbrella term that encompasses many species of crabs. Two of the most common families are sesarmid and fiddler crabs. They are omnivorous and are predated on by a variety of mammals and fish. They are distributed widely throughout the globe on coasts where mangroves are located. Mangrove crabs have wide variety of ecological and biogeochemical impacts due to the biofilms that live in symbiosis with them as well as their burrowing habits. Like many other crustaceans, they are also a human food source and have been impacted by humans as well as climate change.
Scylla serrata is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia, and Asia. In their most common forms, their shell colours vary from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown.
The red-footed booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are found widely in the tropics, and breed colonially in coastal regions, especially islands. The species faces few natural or man-made threats, although its population is declining; it is considered to be a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand freezing temperatures. There are about 80 different species of mangroves, all of which grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.
Rhizophora mangle, the red mangrove, is distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed by water until eventually embedding in the shallows.
The tall-stilt mangrove belongs to the Plantae kingdom under the Rhizophoraceae family. R. apiculata is distributed throughout Australia, Guam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the Maldives, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. Rhizophora apiculata is called ‘bakhaw lalaki,’ in the Philippines, "Thakafathi ތަކަފަތި" in the Maldives, 'Đước' in Vietnam, Garjan in India, as well as other vernacular names.
Thalassina is a genus of mud lobsters found in the mangrove swamps of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Its nocturnal burrowing is important for the recycling of nutrients in the mangrove ecosystem, although it is sometimes considered a pest of fish and prawn farms.
The mangrove whipray or whitetail stingray, is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region from the Red Sea to northern Australia and Micronesia. A benthic inhabitant of shallow inshore waters, juvenile mangrove whiprays favor mangrove and estuarine habitats, while adults favor sandy to rocky areas in lagoons and coral reefs. This species can be identified by its thick, oval pectoral fin disc that is dark gray above with numerous white flecks, and by its relatively short, whip-like tail that is white past the stinging spine. It grows up to 1.4 m (4.6 ft) across.
Ocypode ceratophthalmus, the horned ghost crab or horn-eyed ghost crab, is a species of ghost crab. It lives in the Indo-Pacific region ; from the coast of East Africa to the Philippines and from Japan to the Great Barrier Reef. They also occur in the Pacific Islands to as far east as Polynesia and Clipperton Island. As their common name implies, O. ceratophthalmus possess eyestalks extending beyond the eyes into long points, which are longer in adults, and shorter in juveniles. The crabs have a box-shaped body, 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in) across the carapace, with a darker markings towards the rear in the shape of an H. The outer edges of the eye-sheaths are also sharp and broadly triangular and distinctly pointing sideways in larger individuals. O. ceratophthalmus can run at speeds of up to 2.1 metres per second (6.9 ft/s).
Aratus pisonii, commonly known as the mangrove tree crab, is a species of crab which lives in mangrove trees in tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas, from Florida to Brazil on the Atlantic coast. A.pacificus occurs from Nicaragua to Peru on the Pacific coast. A. pisoni feeds mostly on the leaves of the mangroves, but is an omnivore, and prefers animal matter when possible. A. pisonii and A. pacificus are the two species in the genus Aratus. The specific epithet pisonii commemorates the Dutch naturalist Willem Piso who travelled in Brazil in 1638 with Georg Marggraf.
Metopograpsus messor is a species of grapsid crab that lives in mangroves from East Africa to Fiji.
Metopograpsus is a genus of crabs, containing the following extant species:
Pulo Island, commonly known as Isla Pulo, is a long, narrow island surrounded by mudflats in the Manila Bay coast of Navotas, about 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) north of Manila in the Philippines. It is a sitio in Barangay Tanza, connected to the mainland of Navotas by a 500-meter-long (1,600 ft) bamboo bridge. The island is known for its mangroves for which it was declared a "marine tree park" and as one of four ecotourism sites in Metro Manila established under the National Ecotourism Strategy in 1999. In 2014, it was home to a resettlement site of about 137 indigent families that mostly occupied the island's southern tip.
The violet vinegar crab is a swimming crab species in the genus Episesarma. Distributed all over marine and brackish waters of Indo-West Pacific regions. It is harvested by many local fishermen for rich proteinaceous food.
Neosarmatium smithi, is a swimming crab species in the genus Neosarmatium. Distributed all over marine and brackish waters of Indo-West Pacific regions.
The mangrove swimming crab, also called the crenate swimming crab or spiny rock crab, is a swimming crab species in the genus Thalamita. Distributed all over marine and brackish waters of Indo-West Pacific regions. It is widely used as an edible crab in many countries.
Charybdis hellerii, the Indo-Pacific swimming crab or spiny hands is a species of crab from the swimming crab family, the Portunidae. Its native range covers the Indian and Pacific Oceans but it has been introduced to the western Atlantic and has invaded the Mediterranean. It is a commercially exploited species in south-east Asia.
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