Johngarthia planata
| Johngarthia planata | |
|---|---|
_(8575065932).jpg) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Superfamily: | Grapsoidea |
| Family: | Gecarcinidae |
| Genus: | Johngarthia |
| Species: | J. planata |
| Binomial name | |
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Johngarthia planata (Stimpson, 1860) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Gecarcinus planatus Stimpson, 1860 |
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Gecarcinus planatus Stimpson, 1860
Johngarthia planata, sometimes known as the Clipperton crab, is a species of bright orange land crab that lives on Clipperton Island in the eastern Pacific; on Malpelo Island, west of Colombia; and on Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Islands off Mexico, 900 km north of Clipperton. It feeds on seaweed (algae), coconut leaves and sometimes carrion.
The introduction of pigs on Clipperton Island by guano miners at the beginning of the 20th century reduced the crab population: this in turn allowed grassland to gradually cover about 80 percent of the land surface. The elimination of these pigs in 1958 — as the result of a personal project by Kenneth E. Stager, — has caused most of this vegetation to disappear, resulting in the return of millions of J. planata.
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Wikipedia