Coconut crabs are mainly scavengers, feeding on various tropical. A coconut crab may attack a person if it is threatened. It is a derived hermit crab which is known for its ability to crack coconuts with its. To open a coconut, start by poking a hole in the top with a knife and draining out all the water. Once the shell is cracked, take the coconut out of the oven and put it. Holding the coconut with a towel, firmly tap it with a meat mallet or hammer, turning as needed, until the shell starts cracking in half. How to crack a coconut dealing with a fresh coconut which does not, i admit, look userfriendly is not as difficult as it seems. Giant coconut crab caught on camera attacking and eating a. The coconut crab birgus latro is the largest landdwelling arthropod in the world, able to grow up to nine pounds. The coconut crab is a large edible land crab related to the hermit crab and are found in the tropical indian and pacific oceans. In the middle of the night, laidre wrote, i observed a coconut crab attack and kill an adult redfooted booby. The coconut crab birgus latro is the largest landliving arthropod in the world. Coconut crab is downtowns newest foodie hotspot for quick and delicious asian seafood including mussels, shrimp, crawfish and specialty tacos.
Coconut crabs also known as robber crabs because they are believed to have a magpielike penchant for taking shiny objects are the worlds largest land invertebrates or terrestrial arthropods, a type of landbased hermit crab that eventually abandons carrying a shell as it matures and its soft abdomen hardens. An enormous crab with pincers strong enough to crack open coconuts also brutally kills and eats large birds, it turns out. Whats crackin the coconut crab picture essay of the. Place coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the hard outer shell begins to crack. It is sometimes called the robber crab because some coconut crabs are rumored to steal shiny items such as pots and silverware from houses and tents. Add coconut milk and continue to simmer until squash is really soft and mushy like a puree. Even though they are named the coconut crab, they dont eat coconuts that often. A wide variety of coconut crab options are available to you, such as mud crab, king crab, and snow crab. Crabs in coconut milk ginataang alimango foxy folksy. Traditional thai curry recipes call for frying the spice paste in coconut cream thats been crackedthat is, simmered until its oil separates out. Giant coconut crab sneaks up on a sleeping bird and kills it new. I would think that if its claws can crack coconuts, then all it need to do is grab the spider crabs arms and snap them off bit by bit. Remove the skin with a peeler and feast on the remaining flesh. This hermit crab is also considered a delicacy, and is quite rare in areas where.
When crab is cooked, reduce heat, add coconut milk, and let simmer. So many niueans have tasted coconut crab that it is now, i believe, a protected species so that the crabs wont disappear from all the tasting. Jakob krieger at the university of greifswald in germany has studied. Poke its three eyes to find the softest one, pierce it with a skewer, and drain any liquid.
The largest terrestrial arthropod, the adult crab weighs around 10 lbs reports of crabs several times that size are likely apocryphal and may be up to 3 ft long. Coconut crabs eat everything from coconuts to kittens and rats. The biggest land crab on earth reaches three feet across and eats coconuts. I recently shared a shot of the cracked coconuts on my. Besides drawing out the oil, simmering the coconut cream also forces water. Also, i dont think that either would stand a chance of meeting each other since the coconut crab cant swim after its larval stage. Master the satisfying art of cracking your own nut. I added the garlic to the coconut milk sauce, skipped the. We saw them on a small island of zanzibar tanzania. The coconut crab, birgus latro, is a large edible land crab related to the hermit crab. Coconut crab simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The crabs slow rate of growth as well as late sexual maturity six to eight years of age, has made them very susceptible to over exploitation. The coconut crab got its name from its ability to crack open coconuts with its massive pincers. When they decide to eat a coconut, they rip strips of husk off with.
The power of the coconut crab ayuyu in chamorro is displayed when its powerful claws clamp down on a stick and crush indents into it. They often descend from the trees by falling, and can survive a fall of at least 4. It is known for its ability to crack coconuts with its strong pincers in order to eat the contents. Put the coconut on a cutting board and whack its circumference with a mallet or the blunt edge of a knife until it splits open. Mozambican coconut crab curry caranguejo e coco recipe. The best way to crack open a coconut martha stewart. The coconut crab birgus latro, is the largest landdwelling crustacean earth.
The coconut crab, especially if it is not yet fully grown, is also sold as a pet, for example in tokyo. A giant coconut crab has been filmed stalking, killing and devouring a seabird. Coconut crabs are a birds worst nightmare science news. Coconut crab curry caranguejo e coco this portuguese twist on a traditional mozambican crab curry.
It is more commonly known as the coconut crab, due to its diet. A coconut crab birgus latro cracking open its namesake food. They dig burrows for themselves where they can hang out during the heat of the day and just in case you didnt quite get the message, they line it with bits of coconut husk. The coconut crab is a crab that really likes coconuts. It has the ability to crack or pound open coconuts with its strong pincers. Due to lack of data and scientific research, the iucn conservation status of this species is unknown, however they are thought to be endangered. The soft white meat of the coconut forms the main part of the crabs diet. This is the easiest and most effective way ive found to do it. The booby had been sleeping on a lowlying branch, less than a.
You can also choose from fda, haccp, and gap coconut crab, as well as from alive, frozen, and fresh coconut crab there are 9 suppliers who sells coconut crab on. Coconut crabs are found in the tropical indian and pacific oceans. Coconut crab birgus latro is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world. Crunched for time, i changed this up a fair bit, but it was still great very flavorful.
Heres the easiest way to crack coconut cream for making curries. Indeed, they may be terrestrial, but they still like a nice, cool, moist atmosphere. But before you conjure in your head an image of a giant crab with massive claws cracking open a human skull, know that they do it very methodically and often very. There is at least one case of a coconut crab using its powerful claws pound for pound some of the strongest crushers on earth to kill and eat a rat. Although most people dont think about crabs as bone crushing, kitteneating, mastadons of the tropics, most people have never met this terrestrial hermit crab. Bbc earth coconut crabs are the biggest arthropods. Coconut crabs are generalist scavengers that feed on fallen fruit, carrion, and to ingest calcium the shells of other crabs. The coconut crab, locally known as tatus, is the largest landliving arthropod in the world which does not make them a seafood, so called because they can actually open coconuts. This might seem obvious from the coconut crabs name.
A biologist witnesses a coconut crab taking out a bluefooted booby and documents the balance of the animals in an indian ocean archipelago. The video shows a giant coconut crab snatching and devouring an adult seabird a redfooted booby whose choice to sleep on a lowlying branch proved to be fatal. It is the first time these whopping crustaceans have been. New research finds that the hulking coconut crab has the strongest pinch of any animal. The largest coconut crabs can exert a force of 3,300 newtons. I bought a coconut today, most people avoid whole coconut in the store because they dont know how easy it will be to open it when they get home. If youre not a coconut cracking ninja from samoa, then youll need an easier way to bust coconuts for pleasure, or for survival. Fearless australian poses with massive coconut crab youtube. Coconut crabs bonecrushing grip is 10 times stronger than ours. The coconut crab birgus latro is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world. When you are ready to fry the crab cakes, combine the 1 cup of coconut and 1 cup of panko in a shallow container.
The coconut crab can take a coconut from the ground and cut it to a husk nut, take it with its claw, climb up a tree 10 m 33 ft high and drop the husk nut, to access the coconut flesh inside. By emily lu originally published at birgus latro is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, in some cases having a leg span of over three feet and weighing over nine pounds. The coconut crab is known for its ability to use its massive pincers chelae to crack open coconuts. Coconut crab is not crab flavoured with coconut, it is the worlds largest species of hermit crab. It has an extremely drawn out life cycle which causes the species to repopulate slowly.
The coconut crab in guam scientific research diving at. Originally, coconut crabs were found on islands throughout most of the indopacific region. Coconut crabs were thought to be purely opportunistic scavengers, but. Coconut crack a selection game elimination game childhood, tradition and change public database name is a biographical, bibliographical and archival database of subject with links to related articles and images. We found restaurants in port vila efate offering coconut crab. While some red crabs are obtained as roadkill, there is evidence that coconut crabs may also be active predators. To serve, break the coconut crab into pieces and crack the claws, then do the same with the smaller land crabs. An australian man fearlessly posed with one of the massive coconut crab, going. In fact, this crustaceans claws can snap closed harder than most animals can bite. The coconut crab birgus latro is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. Boil for 1520 minutes in a pot with enough water to cover the crab.
A giant coconut eating crab wild indonesia youtube. First push a skewer into the three holes in the top of the coconut and drain out the milk and reserve it if the recipe needs it. Remove coconut and set aside until cool enough to handle. Add the crabs, long beans and chili peppers and season with fish sauce. The coconut crab is admired for its strength, and it is said that villagers use this animal to guard their coconut plantations.
It is a highly apomorphic hermit crab and is known for its ability to crack coconuts. Terrifying though its proportions may be, it is frequently eaten by the residents of. Phase one sees the female crabs travel to the coast to spawn. F ound on henderson island and possibly on oeno and ducie, the coconut crab birgus latro is a fascinating creature. Yes, coconut crab called uga in niue is very edible and is even considered a delicacy.
Coconut crabs pinch is strongest in the world live science. Did coconut crabs really hide amelia earharts remains. Coconut crabs are found along islands in the indian and pacific oceans. Its not very often i have my friends over while i work, but when i do, i take the opportunity for them to be my hand models, especially when i want to explain to both you and my friends how to crack a coconut. Smart news keeping you current coconut crabs eat everything from kittens to, maybe, amelia earhart according to one theory, earhart did not drown in the pacific but instead crashed on the remote.