A government-funded study found that more than 90 percent of hermit crabs on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) wore mollusk shells, not plastic debris, in a positive sign for the health of the atoll’s marine environment.
The National Academy of Marine Research on Friday said it conducted the study using pit traps in March, during the atoll’s dry season, and in July last year, during its wet season.
The study examined 615 captured specimens and identified three hermit crab species on the atoll: Coenobita rugosus, Coenobita brevimanus and Coenobita perlatus, it said.
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Marine Research
An overwhelming majority of the crabs inhabited mollusk shells despite the global mollusk shell scarcity linked to a decline in their populations, it said.
The academy said that 81 percent of C rugosus on the atoll wore shells of Turbinidae, while 13 percent wore shells of other mollusk families, and 6 percent wore the shells of giant African snails.
None of the 600 C rugosus wore trash, it said.
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Marine Research
Hermit crabs wear mollusk shells as a form of defensive armor against predators and the tides, using their hooked tails to securely attach to the shells they inhabit, it said.
Some crabs lacking mollusk shells wear sea trash, it said.
Giant African snail shells, another commonly used substitute for mollusk shells, possess insufficient mass to anchor female hermit crabs, it said.
Taiwanese researchers in 2012 and 2020 found that respectively 94 percent and 73 percent of the hermit crabs on the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) wore giant African snail shells, it said.
As of last year, individual crabs from 10 out of the world’s 17 hermit crab species were found to wear trash in lieu of mollusk shells, it said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh