C r a b s
  
 
 
 

With 14 species of land crabs, Christmas Island is home to the most remarkable abundance and diversity of land crabs in the world. The scavenging activities of the land crabs recycle nutrients locked in the forest litter, the burrowing tills the soil, and the land crabs browsing on tree fruits and seedlings are all important factors in maintenance of the forest ecosystem on Christmas Island.

 
     
 
The most famous of the land crabs is the Red Crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis), which at the onset of the annual wet season, usually between October and December, embark on a spectacular and dangerous migration journey from their forest burrows in the high central plateau to the sea to breed, and then returning. This is truly one of nature’s most incredible displays that probably occur nowhere else in the world. Click here to read more about the annual breeding migration of the Red Crabs.
  
     
 
Apart from the land crabs, over 160 other species of marine crabs have been recorded from the reefs and shallows of Christmas Island.
 
     
     
 
  
 
 
 

Red Crab
Gecarcoidea natalis

  
 
Blue Crab
Discoplax hirtipes
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
Grapsus Crab
Grapsus tenuicrustatus
  
 
Little Nipper
Geograpsus grayi
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Robber Crab
Birgus latro
  
 
         
 
 
     
 

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