Birgus latro
Coconut Crab
Kaveu RR
f.COENOBITIDAE
Land-hermitcrabs
Birgus latro
Coconut Crab
Kaveu RR
f.COENOBITIDAE
Land-hermitcrabs
Cook Islands Status Summary
Show Notes
Intl. NamesCoconut Crab EN Robber Crab EN Crabe de Cocotier FR
Local NamesKaveuRR,TNs,TNw,PK Unga Puku‘araMG Unga KaveuAT,MK,AK,RK UngaMK Ūngākave‘uMT P,?NPL,NS Unga KoveuMH
Pacific NamesNo Content
Sci. NamesBirgus latro (accepted name)
High Tax. Eng.k.Animals, p.Arthropods, sp.Crustaceans, f.Land-hermitcrabs - Hermit Crab
High Tax. Latink.ANIMALIA, p.ARTHROPODA, sp.CRUSTACEA, c.MALACOSTRACA, sc.EUMALACOSTRACA, spo.Eucarida, o.Decapoda, so.Pleocyemata, io.Anomura, spf.Paguroidea, f.COENOBITIDAE
Natl. PresencePresent
Sth. PresenceRR+MGPATPMKPMTPAK+PLPMN?TKP
Nth. PresenceTNPMHPRKPPK+++NSPSWP
VouchersRR2005
AT2000
PK2004
Local 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
IdentificationThe 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.
Similar SpeciesNo Content
Interest NoteFully terrestrial, drinking water - including seawater. Theimore...r "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 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.
Mating occurs near the sea and involves the male pushing the female 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.
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Vernacular Names
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Threatened
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Invasive/Pest Status
no data available
Biosecurity
Citation Information
McCormack, Gerald (2026) Cook Islands Biodiversity & Ethnobiology Database, Version 2026.03.23 - Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at https://naturalheritage.gov.ck/cibed
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