Terrestrial crabs?

[hornet]

Do we have fully terrestrial crabs in australia? I was told that there is a species found in the rainforests of far north queensland, any truth to that at all?

 

[mis-devious]

im pretty sure there are some types of terrestrial hermit crab that live in aus .. not sure of where they are

 

[ChargerWA]

Christmas Island, Technically part of Australia but not attached. They have massive red crab migrations who once a year move from the forrest to the ocean, to briefly breed and then back into the forrest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Island_red_crab

 

[cris]

land hermit crabs are terrestrial arnt they? other than that most freshwater crabs are mostly aquatic and simply tolerate dry times well as far as i know or live in coastal areas. That said until 10 years ago i didnt even know there were heaps of freshwater crab species around the country, its more interesting to find something than read about it first... While i doubt you will find new terrestrial sp. i would be suprised if all the freshwater types are well known.

 

[Asharee133]

i want a coconut crab!

 

[Narchy]

"Robber Crabs" can also be found on Christmas Island, and elsewhere across the Pacific. They're those big f'ers that can break open coconut shells.

 

[hornet]

Nah i'm talking bout the true terrestrials like the Geosesarma sp from south east asia which live a 100% terrestrial life, their larvae develop inside the eggs hatching into miniature forms of the adults, some species are quite arboreal aswell

 

[mis-devious]

The Australian land hermit crab (Coenobita variabilis) is a terrestrial hermit crab species, native to australia. It is a nocturnal, omnivorous crustacean. They are gregarious and thrive in tropical areas near water.
The Australian land hermit crab is endemic to northern parts of Australia including northern Western Australia, Northern Territory and northern Queensland
good old wikipedia!

 

[cris]

For the mainland i would say a simple no. I really doubt something like that could remain undectected for this amount of time.

 

[hornet]

The Australian land hermit crab (Coenobita variabilis) is a terrestrial hermit crab species, native to australia. It is a nocturnal, omnivorous crustacean. They are gregarious and thrive in tropical areas near water.
The Australian land hermit crab is endemic to northern parts of Australia including northern Western Australia, Northern Territory and northern Queensland
good old wikipedia!

technically not crabs and not entirely terrestrial

---------- Post added 08-Jan-11 at 02:30 PM ----------

For the mainland i would say a simple no. I really doubt something like that could remain undectected for this amount of time.

is it legal to keep christmas island crabs on the mainland? I have seen coconut crabs offered for sale once and as far as i know they are not found on the mainland so i'm wondering if it would be at all possible to legally keep christmas island crabs?