CIBED - Birgus latro - Coconut Crab

Scinames:

Birgus latro

Coconut Crab Kaveu ^RR

Birgus latro

Coconut Crab Kaveu ^RR

Cook Islands Status Summary

Show Notes

Intl. NamesCoconut Crab^EN Robber Crab^EN Crabe de Cocotier^FR

Local NamesKaveu^{RR,TNs,TNw,PK} Unga Puku‘ara^MG Unga Kaveu^AT,MK,AK,RK Unga^MK Ūngākave‘u^MT Unga Koveu^MH

Pacific NamesNo Content

Sci. NamesBirgus latro (accepted name)

High Tax. Eng.Invertebrate, Arthropod, Crustacean, Hermit Crab

High Tax. Latink.ANIMALIA, p.ARTHROPODA, c.MALACOSTRACA, o.Decapoda, f.COENOBITIDAE

Natl. PresenceSth^PNth^POceanic^?Present

Sth. PresenceRR⁺MG^PAT^PMK^PMT^PAK⁺PL^PMN?TK^P

Nth. PresenceTN^PMH^PRK^PPK⁺⁺⁺NS^PSW^P

VouchersRR²⁰⁰⁵ AT²⁰⁰⁰ PK²⁰⁰⁴

OriginNative; Resident

Global RangeNative: islands only: Mauritius - Tuamotu; n. to s.Japan, s. to New Caledonia. (Not in Australia, nor Papua New Guinea);

HabitatLand and Aquatic; Lowlands; Marine

ThreatenedNo Content

InvasivenessNo Content

BiosecurityNo Content

Medical StatusNo Content

Harmful StatusNo Content

UsesFlesh food

Key FeaturesThe largest land-crab, deep blue or tinged red. Thorax is wing-like, with a central "wishbone". The left claw (chela) is massive, the right smaller. Two pairs of walking legs (periopods), and smaller hind pair of appendages with terminal claws. FEMALES have 3 large feathery pleopods under the abdomen to support teh egg mass.

Multimedia & Other Resources

Photographs: 6
Video: 0
Audio: 0
Documents: 0
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5AS035_Birg-latr_

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Coconut crab and coconut husks, Line Islands

Juvenile and adult coconut crabs

feeding in pandanus

Female showing 3 pleopods on left side

Juvenile - 10mm Thoracic Length

Walking Larva (glaucothoe)

Coconut crab and coconut husks, Line Islands (jpg)
Juvenile and adult coconut crabs (jpg)
feeding in pandanus (jpg)
Female showing 3 pleopods on left side (jpg)
Juvenile - 10mm Thoracic Length (jpg)
Walking Larva (glaucothoe) (jpg)

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Vernacular Names

Island	Status	Main name	Growth stage names
National name	RR	Kaveu
Rarotonga	P	Kaveu	Unga ‘Onu < Kaveu
Mangaia	P	Unga Puku‘ara
Ātiu	P	Unga Kaveu
Ma‘uke	P	Unga Kaveu / Unga	Toromimi < Unga Kaveu / Unga
Miti‘āro	P	Ūngākave‘u	Toromimi < Ūngākave‘u
Aitutaki	P	Unga Kaveu
Palmerston	P	NK1
Tongareva-write	P	Kaveu
Tongareva-speak	P	Kaveu
Manihiki	P	Unga Koveu
Rakahanga	P	Unga Kaveu
Pukapuka	P	Kaveu
Nassau	P	NK1

Scientific Names and Taxonomy

National Distribution & Vouchers

National Presence:

Present

Cook Islands	Present
Southern	Present
Northern	Present
Oceanic	N/A

islands: [ , {label: 'Rarotonga', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 404.5, left: 210.5, labelLeft: 222, labelTop: 404} , {label: 'Mangaia', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 427.5, left: 261.5, labelLeft: 274, labelTop: 426} , {label: 'Ātiu', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 372.5, left: 261.5, labelLeft: 244, labelTop: 382} , {label: 'Ma‘uke', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 374.5, left: 282.5, labelLeft: 284, labelTop: 385} , {label: 'Miti‘āro', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 358.5, left: 274.5, labelLeft: 283, labelTop: 351} , {label: 'Aitutaki', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 334.5, left: 210.5, labelLeft: 209, labelTop: 321} , {label: 'Palmerston', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 309.5, left: 112.5, labelLeft: 124, labelTop: 309} , {label: 'Manuae', stroke: '#0000a0', fill: '#fff', symbol: 'WR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 346.5, left: 234.5, labelLeft: 244, labelTop: 338} , {label: 'Takūtea', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 362.5, left: 254.5, labelLeft: 211, labelTop: 363} , {label: 'Tongareva', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 32.5, left: 260.5, labelLeft: 205, labelTop: 31} , {label: 'Manihiki', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 80.5, left: 175.5, labelLeft: 187, labelTop: 80} , {label: 'Rakahanga', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 63.5, left: 173.5, labelLeft: 186, labelTop: 63} , {label: 'Pukapuka', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 88.5, left: 33.5, labelLeft: 45, labelTop: 88} , {label: 'Nassau', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 108.5, left: 46.5, labelLeft: 59, labelTop: 108} , {label: 'Suwarrow', stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: '', top: 162.5, left: 115.5, labelLeft: 127, labelTop: 162} ] , legend: [{label: 'Not Assessed', top: 235, stroke: '#0000a0', fill: '#ffffff', symbol: 'WR', tris: '', trif: ''}, {label: 'Present', top: 250, stroke: '#009900', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GR', tris: '', trif: ''}, {label: '? Present', top: 265, stroke: '#006600', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'GWR', tris: '#ACACAC', trif: '#ffffff'}, {label: 'Absent', top: 280, stroke: '#C00000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RR', tris: '', trif: ''}, {label: '? Absent', top: 295, stroke: '#C00000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RWR', tris: '#c0c0c0', trif: '#ffffff'}, {label: 'Intercepted', top: 312, stroke: '#990000', fill: '#CC0000', symbol: 'RDR', tris: '#000000', trif: '#000000'}, {label: 'Extirpated/Extinct', top: 331, stroke: '#006600', fill: '#00CC00', symbol: 'RGR', tris: '#660000', trif: '#CC0000'} ]

Island	Status
Rarotonga	+
Mangaia	P
Ātiu	P
Ma‘uke	P
Miti‘āro	P
Aitutaki	+
Palmerston	P
Manuae	Unknown
Takūtea	P
Tongareva	P
Manihiki	P
Rakahanga	P
Pukapuka	+++
Nassau	P
Suwarrow	P

Vouchers for
Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767)

Cook Islands

Southern

Northern

Oceanic

Rarotonga 2005 2fs fieldspecimen, s.Muri home of Gwen Welland, Oct/2005, dead, blue, 72mmTL (~30 years old), G.McCormack with ID as Birgus latro.

Ātiu 2000 2fs fieldspecimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID G.McCormack.

Pukapuka 2004 2fsP fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Birgus latro.

Identification

General NoteFully terrestrial, drinking water - including seawater. Their "lungs" are the gill chambers, which are aerated by a paddle-like remnant of the gill. They drown if kept in seawater. Mating occurs near the sea and involves the male pushing the female more...onto her back and using his 5th periopod to place the sperm-sac (spermatophore) over the gonopore at base of the walking legs. After this the female lives within 100 metres of the sea to regularly moisten herself with seawater. 1-2 weeks after mating teh female extrudes the eggs past the sperm-sac so they are fertilized and holds them in a mass with her abdomenal pleopods. The eggs take 3-6 weeks to mature. The young (as zoea) are spawned from the eggs into the water around the first and last quarters. 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. Smallest without a shell had TL of 4mm, probably all have discarded the shell by TL 6mm. Crabs burrow and moult 2-4 times a year up to TL 30mm (immatures), and, when adult, they moult once a year. 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. They use their main claws to pull back the husk at the end which was formerly attached to the palm. When the eyes are exposed they pierce the soft-eye with a walking-leg claw, expand the hole with the small pincer on the third walking-leg, and finally enlarge the hole with the main pincer. The process takes several days. The Coconut Crab is esteemed as food. Unfortunately, it is easily over-harvested, because of its complex life-cycle and slow growth rate.

Id NoteHelfman (1997a) described the copulatory behaviour of B. latro from observation of a single event. Both male and female crabs were in intermolt phase during copulation. The male approaches the female slowly, clasps the dorsal meri of the chelipeds, amore...nd quickly moves forward to turn the female onto her back. Abdomens are extended, the male deposits the spermataphore, and the pair disengages. Helfman, G. S. 1973. Ecology and Behaviour of the Coconut Crab, Birgus latro (L). Masters thesis, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.

Origin and Global Range

Habitat

no data available

Threatened

no data available

Invasive/Pest Status

no data available

Biosecurity

Medicinal

Species Uses

References

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2009-2017) Cook Islands Biodiversity & Ethnobiology Database, Version 2017.1. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.pacificbiodiversity.net
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Vouchers for
Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767)

Identification

Origin and Global Range

Habitat

Threatened

Invasive/Pest Status

Biosecurity

Medicinal

Species Uses

References

Citation Information

Cook Islands Status Summary

Multimedia & Other Resources

Vernacular Names

Accepted Name

Synonyms

Vouchers for Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767)

Citation Information

Vouchers for
Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767)