Download Birgus latro, Coconut Crab

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™
ISSN 2307-8235 (online)
IUCN 2008: T2811A9484078
Birgus latro, Coconut Crab
Assessment by: Eldredge, L.G.
View on www.iucnredlist.org
Citation: Eldredge, L.G. 1996. Birgus latro. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1996:
e.T2811A9484078. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T2811A9484078.en
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THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Coenobitidae
Taxon Name: Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767)
Common Name(s):
• English:
• French:
Coconut Crab, Palm Thief, Robber Crab
Crabe De Cocotier
Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:
Data Deficient ver 2.3
Year Published:
1996
Date Assessed:
August 1, 1996
Annotations:
Needs Updating
Previously Published Red List Assessments
1994 – Rare (R)
1990 – Rare (R)
1988 – Rare (R)
1986 – Rare (R)
1983 – Rare (R)
Geographic Range
Range Description:
Widely distributed throughout the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, occurring almost exclusively on
oceanic islands or on small offshore islets adjacent to large continental islands. (L. Eldredge. pers comm.
1996)
Country Occurrence:
Native: American Samoa (American Samoa); Australia; British Indian Ocean Territory; Christmas Island;
Cook Islands; Fiji; French Polynesia; Guam; India; Indonesia; Japan; Kiribati; Malaysia; Marshall Islands;
Micronesia, Federated States of ; Nauru; New Caledonia; Niue; Northern Mariana Islands; Palau; Papua
New Guinea; Philippines; Samoa; Seychelles; Solomon Islands; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania,
United Republic of; Thailand; Tokelau; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu
Regionally extinct: Mauritius
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Birgus latro – published in 1996.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T2811A9484078.en
1
Population
The populations are reportedly quite large, with one of the largest populations being on Caroline Island.
It is believed that the coconut crab is quite common on some islands, but rather rare on others.
Habitat and Ecology
Coconut crabs live alone in underground burrows and rock crevices. They dig their own burrows in sand
or loose soil. During the day, the animal stays hidden, to protect itself from predators and reduce water
loss from heat. They live almost exclusively on land, and some have been found up to 6 km from the
ocean.
Mating occurs near the sea. After this the female lives within 100 metres of the sea to regularly moisten
herself with seawater. The young (as zoea) are spawned from the eggs into the water. The zoea takes 3-6
weeks to go through 4-5 zoea stages and form an ampbibious stage called a glaucothoe. The benthic,
shrimplike glaucothoe finds a minute shell and after 3-4 weeks it migrates ashore. After about 4 weeks
of living around the high tide mark, it transforms into a juvenile crab, which continues to use a
gastropod shell for 1-2 years, and lives very secretively in burrows.
They are solitary and usually nocturnal, especially where human activity is frequent. They are
omnivorous, commonly eating the fallen fruit of Pandanus and the Coconut Palm.
Systems: Terrestrial, Marine
Threats
The Coconut Crab is esteemed as food. Unfortunately, it is easily over-harvested, because of its complex
life-cycle and slow growth rate. Coastal development on many islands also reduces the natural habitat of
the crab.
The juvenile coconut crab is vulnerable to introduced carnivores such as rats and pigs, and ants such as
the yellow crazy ant.
Conservation Actions
The coconut crab is protected in some areas, with minimum sizes for taking and a protected breeding
period.
Credits
Assessor(s):
Eldredge, L.G.
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Birgus latro – published in 1996.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T2811A9484078.en
2
Bibliography
Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (eds). 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. pp. 378.
International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Groombridge, B. (ed.). 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and
Cambridge, UK.
IUCN. 1990. IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Wells, S.M., Pyle, R.M. and Collins, N.M. (compilers) 1983. The IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book. IUCN,
Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Citation
Eldredge, L.G. 1996. Birgus latro. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1996: e.T2811A9484078.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T2811A9484078.en
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External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Birgus latro – published in 1996.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T2811A9484078.en
3
The IUCN Red List Partnership
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN
Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation
International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas
A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.
THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™