Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Cardisoma crassum
cangrejo azul, cangrejo terrestre gigante, cangrejo terrestre sin boca, Giant land crab, Mouthless crab
The giant land crab has an oval carapace that is wider than it is long (up to 13.2 cm). The carapace is blue-cream in color, with wide eyes placed near the sides of the body. Pincers vary between cream to yellow in color, and one pincer is larger than the other. The legs are bright red.
"The mangrove (or mouthless) crab, burrowing in mangrove communities on Santa Cruz Island. "It was introduced when some living crabs, reportedly brought to a hotel in Puerto Ayora to prepare a traditional crab dish for the captain of a tour boat, escaped" (Hickman and Zimmerman 2000); the date was 1993 (Rodrigo H. Bustamante, pers. comm., 1997). It has since spread to Santiago and Isabella Islands. We regard the listing of the Galápagos by Bright (1966), without citation, as within the range of C. crassum as a lapsus, as the extensive gecarcinid literature of the tropical Eastern Pacific did not report this crab from the Galápagos before or after 1966 until its appearance on the highly populated island of Santa Cruz in the 1990s. The same author (Bright and Hogue 1972) detailed the distribution of C. crassum six years after his 1966 paper, but dropped reference to the Galápagos Islands. Garth (1991) specifically noted the historic absence of C. crassum in the Galápagos, its anthropogenic arrival not yet having come to his attention" (Carlton et al. 2019).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Malacostraca
Order
Decapoda
Suborder
Pleocyemata
Superfamily
Grapsoidea
Family
Gecarcinidae
Genus
Cardisoma
Species
crassum
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Cardisoma latimanus Lockington, 1877, fide Appeltans et al. (2010)
Taxon origin: Introduced - established
Habitat preferences: The giant land crab lives around mangrove roots where it builds its burrow in dry mud. Also found around rock crevices.
Substrate or host preferences: Mangroves, estuaries and brakish water
Feeding preferences: Eat mangrove leaves and dead animals
Trophic role: Omnivorous
Reproduction mode: Exclusively sexual
Distribution origin: Central and south american Pacific coast from Baja California to Peru.
Mode of introduction: Accidental
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Food with potential to propagate
Invasive status: Invasive
Year of first record: 1993
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Native: Pacific south and central coasts of south america, from Southern Baja California, Mexico to Peru. Introduced: Galapagos Islands
- Hickman, C.P. Jr. Zimmerman, T.L. (2000) A Field Guide to Crustaceans of Galápagos. Sugar Spring Press, Lexington, Virginia, 156 pp.
- Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
- IUCN (2010) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 April 2010.
- Carlton, J. T. Keith, I., & Ruiz, G. M. (2019) Assessing marine bioinvasions in the Galápagos islands: Implications for conservation biology and marine protected areas. Aquatic Invasions, 14(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2019.14.1.01
Feeding type: Detritivorous