Millions of Christmas Island crabs "shake their little booties" to release eggs in seawater

Record ID: 1648261

  • Title: Millions of Christmas Island crabs "shake their little booties" to release eggs in seawater
  • Date: 27th November 2021
  • Summary: CHRISTMAS ISLAND, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHRISTMAS ISLAND NATIONAL PARK INVASIVE SPECIES PROGRAM COORDINATOR, TANYA DETTO, SAYING: "There's some really big numbers, lots of zeros involved here. But if you think each female can carry up to 100,000 eggs, like the big females will have about 100,000 eggs, the smaller ones less. And if we
  • Embargoed: 11th December 2021 06:34
  • Keywords: Australia Christmas Island crabs migration red crabs spawning wildlife
  • Location: CHRISTMAS ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
  • City: CHRISTMAS ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Australia,Environment,Nature/Wildlife
  • Reuters ID: LVA006F5DGIU1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING
    After days of walking in their annual migration, Christmas Island female crabs arrived at the water's edge on Saturday (November 27) to release millions of eggs into the ocean on the island off the coast of Western Australia.
    "First thing in the morning at about 4 or 5 a.m. they get into the water and shake their little booties and release the eggs into the water. And that's where the eggs will actually hatch straight away and the larvae will swim off into the wide unknown," Christmas Island National Park invasive species program coordinator, Tanya Detto, told Reuters from Christmas Island.
    Detto added that the number of babies being spawned is impossible to gauge, with an estimated 20 million females carrying about 100,000 eggs each.
    "Probably luckily for us, they don't all make it back otherwise we would probably get pushed off the island," said Detto, adding that returning numbers depend on currents, swell, and predators like adult crabs and birds.
    Taking a few seconds to release their eggs, after the spawning event, which can last from two to four days, the female crabs return to their burrows in the forests.
    "It's always great to see people see the crabs for the first time, like whether it's the migration on the roads and just the massive number of adults going down or at the spawning event where they are doing the little dance. Everybody is always amazed at the spectacle, it's really cool," said Detto.
    The Christmas Island red crab is endemic to the island and protected by law.
    (Production: Stefica Nicol Bikes)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register