AnimalvsAnimal
Birgus latro🦀

Photo: fearlessRich · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesDecapodaCoenobitidae
Invertebrates

🦀Coconut crab

Birgus latro (Linnaeus, 1767)

Le Crabe de cocotier (Birgus latro) est le plus grand des arthropodes terrestres. De la famille des bernard l'hermite, ce n'est donc pas un crabe au sens strict. Il est connu pour sa capacité à casser des noix de coco grâce à ses fortes pinces, pour manger le contenu. Il se répartit dans des îles et îlots de l'océan Pacifique et de l'océan Indien. Cet arthropode a un développement complexe associé à de singulières caractéristiques morphologiques. Son odorat est très performant et il a développé diverses stratégies pour préserver l'eau indispensable à sa respiration.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
15
Photos
6
Measurements
5
vs you
≈ 1/16th of your weight
Also called
Palm Thief, Robber Crab
Conservation status
VUVulnerable

IUCN Red List assessment, 2020.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
4 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
40 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Coconut crab

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
4 kgmaximum recorded
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Carapace width
0.2 mmaximum recorded, carapace width
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Maximum lifespan
40 yearsmaximum recorded
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Danger to humans
poisonous to eat
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Volume l
4 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Coconut crab yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumArthropoda
  3. ›classMalacostraca
  4. ›orderDecapoda
  5. ›familyCoenobitidae
  6. ›genusBirgus
  7. ›speciesBirgus latro
Full lineage
  1. classCrabs, shrimp & kin · Malacostraca
  2. orderCrabs, lobsters & shrimp · Decapoda
  3. familyCoenobitidae
  4. genusBirgus
All 10 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classCrabs, shrimp & kin · Malacostraca
  4. subclassEumalacostraca
  5. superorderEucarida
  6. orderCrabs, lobsters & shrimp · Decapoda
  7. suborderPleocyemata
  8. infraorderAnomura
  9. familyCoenobitidae
  10. genusBirgus
More

More about the Coconut crab

In other languages
Cangrejo de los cocoteros (es), crabe de cocotier (fr), 椰子蟹 (zh), Krab palmowy (pl), סרטן הקוקוס (he), 야자집게 (ko) … and 26 more languages
More photos
Birgus latroCoconut Crab (Birgus latro)Coconut Crab (Birgus latro)
All 6 photos in the gallery →

Les animaux pris sur le vif

De vraies images des animaux de ce site — à la chasse, au combat, ou vaquant simplement à leurs occupations.

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Scaling lab

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Tree of life

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