Coconut Crab
Birgus latro · Crustacean
The largest land arthropod, up to 4 kg with legs spanning about 1 m, found on islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Zanzibar to the Gambier Islands. It lives in burrows in sand or rock crevices, sometimes kilometres inland, and comes out mostly at night; it eats fruit, nuts and seeds and can crack a coconut. Its claws hold on hard and hurt. A delicacy and supposed aphrodisiac on many islands, it can poison those who eat it after it has fed on sea mango kernels.
- Danger
- Dangerous if cornered
- How it is met
- Alone, by night
- Size
- Small
- In winter
- Active in winter
Where it lives
Tropical Rainforest, Sandy Shore, Coral Reef
Gives
Sources
- Meaghan Ly, Yesenia Werner, Birgus latro (coconut crab). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2013.
- Coconut crab. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2026.
- Crabe de cocotier. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 2026.
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