Most of the Coenobita brevimanus, a species of land hermit crabs, in the Sansiantai area (三仙台) in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) are using plastic bottle caps as shells, a Tainan-based marine biologist said on Sunday.
Chiu Yu-wen (邱郁文), a researcher at National Cheng Kung University’s Center for Research in Water Science and Technology, said he last week traveled to the area to conduct research on hermit crabs and discovered that among the 14 Coenobita brevimanus that he encountered, most of them were using plastic bottle caps as shells.
Even the few crabs that had shells were carrying ones that were either damaged or too small to fully protect their bodies, he said.
Photo courtesy of Chiu Yu-wen
The carapace of the Coenobita brevimanus can measure up to 45mm, Chiu said, adding that they are the second-largest species of hermit crabs in Taiwan.
Unlike natural shells, plastic bottle caps and damaged shells do not provide hermit crabs with an effective and confined shelter for defense, Chiu said.
Apart from being unable to effectively defend themselves against predators, hermit crabs that use plastic bottle caps as shells or damaged shells are also unable to prevent water from evaporating from their bodies, let alone reproduce during the breeding season, he said.
Hermit crabs are also unable to steadily hook onto plastic bottle caps using their abdominal appendages due to the smooth liner inside the caps, he added.
Chiu said that part of the problem is that when edible shellfish are consumed at restaurants, empty shells are not returned to the shores, thereby creating an insufficient supply of shells for hermit crabs.
Hermit crabs on other shores face similar problems, he added.
Due to their proximity to farms and windbreaks, Tainan’s hermit crabs can substitute the shells of shellfish with the shells of the Lissachatina fulica, a species of land snail also known as the giant African snail, Chiu said.
However, because the shells of snails are thin and fragile, they are not ideal, he said.
A short-term solution would be to set up a collection point for shells near the entrance to the Sansiantai area, he said.
However, to maintain the hermit crabs’ habitat — including the environment and the quality of water — and ensure a sustainable management of fishery resources, long-term investment is needed, Chiu said, adding that right now, the most urgent task is to find shells for the crabs.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS