Claim: Photographs show coconut crabs.
PARTLY TRUE
Examples:
[Collected via e-mail, August 2007]
Take a look at this photo of the Christmas island robber crab (another name for coconut crab). It was taken at the Detention Centre construction site.
[Collected via e-mail, February 2009]
COCONUT CRABS
The coconut crab is a large edible land crab related to the hermit crab and are found in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. They eat coconuts for a living! How would you like to be on an island and come across a crab that is more than
Origins: The first photograph above initially circulated in August 2007 with text identifying it as a Christmas Island robber crab; in February 2009 it was joined with the second photograph above and a paragraph of text describing coconut crabs.
Although “coconut crab” might sound more like a dinner entrée at
penchant for taking shiny objects) are the world’s largest land invertebrates (or terrestrial arthropods), a type of land-based hermit crab that eventually abandons carrying a shell as it matures and its soft abdomen hardens. Coconut crabs are found on tropical islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, typically achieve a body length of
As described on Softpedia, coconut crabs also:
The meat of this large crab is extremely appreciated, just like lobster or other crabs, and it is also considered an aphrodisiac.
[A]re known to climb trees up to
Although the pictures and descriptions of coconut crabs included in the sample
Last updated: 8 March 2009