Christmas Island red crab

Christmas Island red crab
Megalopae of the crab
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Gecarcinidae
Genus: Gecarcoidea
Species:
G. natalis
Binomial name
Gecarcoidea natalis
Pocock, 1888
Distribution map of Christmas Island red crab
Female red crab about to release eggs into the sea

The Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) is a species of land crab that is endemic to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean.[1][2] Although restricted to a relatively small area, an estimated 43.7 million adult red crabs once lived on Christmas Island alone,[3] but the accidental introduction of the yellow crazy ant is believed to have killed about 10–15 million of these in recent years.[4] Christmas Island red crabs make an annual mass migration to the sea to lay their eggs in the ocean.[5] Although its population is under great assault by the ants,[6] as of 2020 the red crab had not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and it was not listed on their Red List.[7] The crab's annual mass migration to the sea for spawning is described as an "epic" event. Millions emerge at the same time, halting road traffic and covering the ground in a thick carpet of crabs.[8]

  1. ^ O'Dowd, Dennis J.; Lake, P. S. (August 1990). "Red Crabs in Rain Forest, Christmas Island: Differential Herbivory of Seedlings". Oikos. 53 (3): 289–292. Bibcode:1990Oikos..58..289O. doi:10.2307/3545219. JSTOR 3545219.
  2. ^ Shaw, Allison K. (11 September 2010). "Christmas Island Red Crabs". Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Adamcz2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ O'Dowd, Dennis J.; Green, Peter T.; Lake, P. S. (21 August 2003). "Invasional 'meltdown' on an oceanic island" (PDF). Ecology Letters. 6 (9): 812–817. Bibcode:2003EcolL...6..812O. doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00512.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2011 – via the University of Nevada, Reno.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ParkAussie_Redcrabs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISSG_IUCN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  8. ^ Gastelu, Gary (24 November 2021). "'Absolutely epic' crab migration snarls traffic on Christmas Island". Fox News. Retrieved 29 November 2021.