OKINAWA IKIMONO Lab | Blue Land Crab

English Common Name: Blue Land Crab
Scientific name: Cardisoma carnifex
Taxonomy: Order: Decapoda, Family: Gecarcinidae
Size: About 10 cm (width of the shell)
Species Distribution: Ryukyu Group (limited to south of Yoron Island), Southeast Asia (coastal areas facing to Pacific and Indian Oceans)
Okinawan Common Name: Gitahsa (Yaeyam area); The biggest land-crab found in Japan, this species lives in burrows in grasslands and wetlands along coastal areas, or around mangrove forests. This crab is also called “O-okagani” as well as “Minami-okagani” in Japanese. Its shell is about the size of fist and its claws are different sizes. Blue Land Crab is omnivorous, it feeds on small dead creatures such as frogs and crabs as well as dead leaves and fruit from screw-pine. Many females carrying egg mass are often found around coast lines during full moons in summer to fall. The crab is called “Gitahsa” and was used as food in Yaeyama area.; Updated June 2017