Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
land crab
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
land crab
Quizzes
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
Animal Group Names
Lion (panthera leo)
Deadliest Animals Quiz
Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)
Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz
The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024
Animal Factoids
Quick Facts
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
land crab
land crab Land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi).

land crab

crustacean
Also known as: Gecarcinidae
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

land crab, any crab of the family Gecarcinidae (order Decapoda of the class Crustacea), typically terrestrial, square-bodied crabs that only occasionally, as adults, return to the sea. They occur in tropical America, West Africa, and the Indo-Pacific region. All species feed on both animal and plant tissue. Cardisoma guanhumi, a land crab of Bermuda, the West Indies, and the southern United States, lives in fields, swamps, and mangrove thickets. Some penetrate inland as far as 8 km (about 5 miles). Adults weigh about 0.5 kg (18 ounces) and measure about 11 cm (4 inches) across the carapace, or back. Gecarcinus lateralis, occurring from Bermuda to Guyana, is 9 cm wide. Like Cardisoma, it may live a considerable distance from the ocean.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.