Malacostracans · Decapoda · Gecarcinidae

Great Land Crab

Cardisoma guanhumi

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

The great land crab, or blue land crab, is a terrestrial decapod crustacean of the family Gecarcinidae. It is one of the largest crabs in its range.

Size

up to 15 cm

Lifespan

13 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Crepuscular

Active above all at dawn and dusk.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

Fun facts

reproducciónIt spends most of its adult life on land, away from the sea, though it has to return to salt water periodically to release its eggs.
It grows very slowly: it needs more than sixty moults to reach full size, some three times as many as other crabs, and that is why it lives longer than most land crabs.
Six to ten days before moulting it seals the burrow entrance with mud to protect itself while it is soft.
The bottom of the burrow holds a pool of water, and the air inside has very high concentrations of carbon dioxide.
It feeds mainly on mangrove leaves and fruit, but also on carrion, and is said to turn cannibal.
It is an important food in the Caribbean and is overexploited: Puerto Rico has brought in strict rules and Florida has considered doing the same.

Skeleton type: Invertebrate - articulated calcareous exoskeleton (crustacean)
Habitat & environment: Estuaries, mangroves and riverbanks of the American Atlantic, always within eight kilometres of the coast; it digs burrows almost two metres deep with a pool of water at the bottom
Litter / clutch size: The laying season runs from June to December in Florida, peaking in October and November

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardisoma_guanhumi