Mangrove crabs are crabs that live among mangroves, and may belong to many different species and even families. They have been shown to be ecologically significant in many ways. They keep much of the energy within the forest by burying and consuming leaf litter.[1][2] Along with burrowing in the ground,[3] at high tide and in the face of predators these crustaceans can climb trees to protect themselves.[4] The hermit crab and the mangrove crab are the only crustaceans that can climb trees as a defense mechanism.[5] Furthermore, their feces may form the basis of a coprophagous food chain contributing to mangrove secondary production.[6][7]  Mangrove crab larvae are the major source of food for juvenile fish inhabiting the adjacent waterways, indicating that crabs also help nearshore fisheries.[8] The adult crabs are food for threatened species such as the crab plover.[9] Their burrows alter the topography and sediment grain size of the mangrove,[10] and help aerate the sediment.[11] Removing crabs from an area causes significant increases in sulfides and ammonium concentrations, which in turn affects the productivity and reproductive output of the vegetation, supporting the hypothesis that mangrove crabs are a keystone species.[12]
Mangrove crabs have highly variable life cycles that are dependent on different biotic and abiotic factors, such as precipitation, relative humidity, and the lunar cycle. They are slow-growing and long-lived; they have been known to live for more than 10 years. These crabs mate at the time of maturity, which is approximately 3 years of age. Females are smaller than males; this is because the development of reproductive tissues required more energy for females, leaving less energy available for continued body growth. They grow through a process known as molting - regularly shedding their shell and growing a new, larger one. They continue to molt and grow after they have reached sexual maturity. During the breeding season, the crabs leave their borrows in a phenomenon characterized by mass mate-searching events. Once mating/fertilization has occurred, females spawns in the water. The larvae released during the rainy season develop in offshore waters and return to coastal waters five to eight weeks after larval release. Mangrove crabs are important fishery resources in all Brazilian coast, mainly in the north and northeast where many fishermen depend upon their catch. In addition to its social and economic importance, the mangrove crab is a “keystone” specie in ecosystem, they playing an important role in the processes of nutrient cycling and energy transfer. |
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