Palm thief [1] ( lat. Birgus latro ) - a species of decapod crayfish from the superfamily of hermit crayfish ( Paguroidea ). Unlike most other hermit crabs, he uses empty shells of gastropods only in the early stages of development. Adults lead a land lifestyle. Palm thieves are common in the tropics on the islands of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. Their meat is eaten.
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 Palm thief climbing the trunk | ||||||||||||||||||
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International Red Book IUCN Data Deficient : 2811 |
Content
Title
The specific name is lat. latro means robber. Generic Birgus was given by Lich in return for the Cancer name "cancer" given by Linnaeus . Birgus - Latin transcription of the Greek name of the river in the geography of Ptolemy ; later, the Latin name for the Barrow River in Ireland. However, it is not clear how the name of any river is associated with the name of crustaceans [2] .
This "crustacean" was called a crustacean because in the past it was attributed to it the ability to cut coconuts from palm trees, then to enjoy the flesh of a broken nut. It was even believed that he could independently open the coconut with claws, if he survived the fall. In reality, a palm thief cannot purposefully get nuts - he just finds the "bastards" ripped off by the wind.
Often, a palm thief is mistakenly called a crab.
Structure and systematic position
Palm thief is one of the largest terrestrial arthropods: body length can reach 40 cm, and weight - 4 kg [3] . Claws of the front pair of walking legs are capable of developing an effort to crush small bones. The fourth and, especially, the fifth pair of walking legs are developed worse than the others. This sign, as well as the ability to bend the abdominal region, indicate that palm thieves belong to hermit crabs , and not to crabs that look like them.
The highly developed calcified exoskeleton , as well as the modification of the gas exchange organs, allows the representatives of this species to lead a land lifestyle. The walls of the gill cavities bear a cluster of outgrowths, significantly increasing the respiratory surface. Actually, the gills of a palm thief are poorly developed.
Reproduction and development
In the breeding season, females with developing eggs migrate to the sea and lay them in the water, where the larvae hatch. Young individuals settled to the bottom possess the typical appearance of a hermit crab and hide a soft abdomen in empty shells of sea (and after land-based land) gastropod mollusks.
The lifespan of palm thieves is quite large: they reach a length of 10 cm only at the age of five.
Nutrition and lifestyle
Palm thief is omnivorous. The diet consists of pandanas , the contents of chopped coconuts . May also feed on other crustaceans and detritus . [four]
A palm thief digs shallow holes in the soil, which are lined with coconut fibers. Sometimes it is content with natural shelters - crevices in rocks, cavities in drained coral reefs , but even in such cases it uses plant material to cover them, preserving high humidity in the dwelling. Able to climb trees . It has a well-developed sense of smell [5] .
In 2016, a case of bird hunting was noted - a palm thief climbed a tree and attacked a red-footed booby . [6]
Photo Gallery
Palm Thief - Front View
A variety of coloring palm thieves
Spiral abdomen young living in shell
Notes
- ↑ Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. M.S. Gilyarov ; Editorial: A.A. Baev , G.G. Vinberg, G.A. Zavarzin et al. - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia , 1986.- S. 443.- 831 p. - 100,000 copies.
- ↑ Merriam-Webster dictionary
- ↑ Naskrecki P. The Smaller Majority . Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005, 278 p., P. 38. ISBN 0-674-01915-6 (English)
- ↑ Joanne E. Wilde; Stuart M. Linton; Peter Greenaway (2004). "Dietary assimilation and the digestive strategy of the omnivorous anomuran land crab Birgus latro (Coenobitidae)." Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology 174 (4): 299-308. doi: 10.1007 / s00360-004-0415-7. PMID 14760503 .
- ↑ Stensmyr, MC, Erland, S., Hallberg, E., Wallén, R., Greenaway, P., Hansson, BS (2005). Insect-like olfactory adaptations in the terrestrial Giant Robber Crab. Current Biology 15 (2): 116-121. Text DOI : 10.1016 / j.cub.2004.12.0.069 (English)
- ↑ Giant coconut crab sneaks up on a sleeping bird and kills it | New scientist
Sources
- Westheide V. , Rieger R. From arthropods to echinoderms and chordates // Invertebrate Zoology. = Spezielle Zoology. Teil 1: Einzeller und Wirbellose Tiere / Per. with him. O. N. Bölling, S. M. Lyapkova, A. V. Mikheev, O. G. Manylov, A. A. Oskolsky, A. V. Filippova, A. V. Chesunov; under the editorship of A.V. Chesunova. - M .: Partnership of scientific publications of KMK, 2008. - V. 2. - iv + 513-935 + iii p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-87317-495-9 .
Links
- Photo and video materials on the ARKive project website
- Eldredge, LG 1996. Birgus latro . In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2.
- The Coconut Crab ( Birgus latro ): A Comprehensive Account Of The Biology And Conservation Issues