Larval Growth of the Coconut Crab Birgus Latro with a Discussion on the Development Mode of Terrestrial Hermit Crabs

Ontogeny of sinking velocity, body density, and phototactic behaviour in larvae of the coconut crab Birgus latro: Implications for larval dispersal and recruitment in the sea

“…Variability in the number of zoeal stages has been reported previously in the coconut crab (Reese and Kinzie, 1968;Wang et al, 2007). However, metamorphosis from the fourth zoeal stage to the megalopal stage is considered the typical larval developmental pathway for this species (Hamasaki et al, 2009), as was also observed in the present study.…”

“…Although the land hermit crabs (Coenobitidae) are terrestrial, their eggs hatch into the sea (Drew et al, 2010;Nakasone, 2001) and their larvae develop through several planktonic zoeal stages to the megalopal stage, similar to marine hermit crab species (Brodie and Harvey, 2001;Hamasaki et al, 2009;Harvey, 1992;Nakasone, 1988;Wang et al, 2007). After settlement, the megalopae of the land hermit crabs must recognize and co-opt gastropod shells before migrating onto land and metamorphosing to the juvenile stage (Brodie, 1999;Hamasaki et al, 2011;Harvey, 1992;Kadiri-Jan and Chauvet, 1998;Reese, 1968).…”

“…The coconut crab larvae pass through 3-5 zoeal stages in 2-3 weeks before they metamorphose into megalopae (Hamasaki et al, 2009;Reese and Kinzie, 1968;Sugizaki et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2007). Laboratory and field observations have revealed that the megalopae and juveniles of this species show the shell-carrying habit of their hermit crab ancestors, but in the wild, they give up their shell-carrying nature at a thoracic length of~8 mm (Hamasaki et al, 2011;Kadiri-Jan and Chauvet, 1998;Reese, 1968).…”

Thermal adaptations of embryos of six terrestrial hermit crab species

“…Coenobitid crabs mainly occur in subtropical and tropical coastal regions and have been divided into 2 groups based on their geographical occurrence patterns: (1) widely distributed species in the Indo-West Pacific, and (2) relatively narrower distributed species in particular regions, such as the western Atlantic, West Africa, west coast of North America, Northern Australia, and the northwestern Pacific (Hartnoll 1988, Nakasone 1988, Harvey 1992, McLaughlin et al 2007, Wang et al 2007, Hamasaki et al 2015b.…”

Settlement behavior and substrate preference of the coconut crab Birgus latro megalopae on natural substrata in the laboratory

“…Subtropical populations also occur in Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (Drew et al, 2010;Hamasaki et al, 2009;Sato et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2007). The coconut crab is an anomuran belonging to Coenobitidae (McLaughlin et al, 2010).…”