Christmas Island red crab
Quick Summary
The Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) is a land crab native to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. These crabs are known for their striking red coloration and their massive annual breeding migration to the coast, where millions of crabs move across the landscape.12
These solitary crustaceans spend most of the year in burrows on the forest floor. During their migration, females spawn in the ocean, and the young crabs return to the forest after a month of development.1
Ecologically, the Christmas Island red crab is a scavenger that helps clean the forest floor by consuming leaf litter and dead animals. Their burrowing activities also aerate the soil and recycle nutrients. They are a type of land crab, which are typically terrestrial but return to the sea as adults.13
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