Huge, blue creature spotted in island cave for first time in decades, shocked scientists reveal
It was a crab-ulous find.
Cavers encountered a massive blue crab in a cavern in India, marking the first time the at-risk species had been spotted in the region in 150 years, per a watershed study published May 26 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Threatened Taxa.
Researchers had been exploring a 'small cave' on Car Nicobar — the northernmost island in the Nicobar archipelago off the subcontinent's east coast — when they inadvertently happened across the blue-gray critter tucked in one of the crevices, the Miami Herald reported.
3 'For species such as coconut crabs, which are rare, elusive, or in challenging environments, incidental sightings provide valuable insights into the species' presence, behavior, or habitat preferences that might otherwise remain undocumented,' researchers wrote.
kazucha – stock.adobe.com
The crustacean was a robber crab, the world's largest terrestrial arthropod, capable of growing up to 3 feet long with a maximum weight of 11 pounds.
This particular specimen, a male, was only around five inches long and weighed around 2.6 pounds.
3 Car Nicobar Island in the Andaman Sea.
zelwanka – stock.adobe.com
The species is perhaps more commonly referred to as the coconut crab, due to its penchant for tearing open the hard-shelled fruit with its nutcracker-like claws, whose pinch has been compared to a lion's bite.
While prevalent throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the coconut-crunching crustacean has been pushed to the brink by habitat destruction and other human activities, as well as natural disasters like tsunamis.
After the 2004 tsunami pummeled ecosystems across the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, scientists traveled to the region to see what species had survived.
3 Coconut crabs are the largest terrestrial arthropods, capable of weighing up to 11 pounds.
REUTERS
They found coconut crabs on several islands but not Car Nicobar.
This latest sighting marks the first confirmed sighting of the invertebrate on the island since 1874.
Scientists believe this particular specimen may have been attracted to the area by a nearby pile of coconuts and human trash, which they noted can prove hazardous as the 'crabs can become entangled or ingest harmful materials.'
Unfortunately, locating coconut crabs is challenging due to their nocturnal nature and poorly understood habits.
'For species such as coconut crabs, which are rare, elusive, or in challenging environments, incidental sightings provide valuable insights into the species' presence, behavior, or habitat preferences that might otherwise remain undocumented,' researchers wrote.
Perhaps one of the crabs' strangest habits is engaging in 'pillow talk' while making hanky panky.
Using X-ray movies and digital audio, Japanese scientists figured out the invertebrates chat each other up clicks and taps at every stage of sex — foreplay, orgasm and even the crustacean equivalent of cuddling afterward.
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