''Gecarcinus lateralis'', also known by the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s blackback land crab, Bermuda land crab, red land crab (leading to easy confusion with ''

Gecarcoidea natalis The Christmas Island red crab (''Gecarcoidea natalis'') is a species of land crab that is endemic to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean. Although restricted to a relatively small area, an estimated 43.7 million adu ...

'') and moon crab (leading to easy confusion with '' G. quadratus'' and ''

Cardisoma ''Cardisoma'' is a genus of large land crabs. Three species formerly placed in this genus are now placed in '' Discoplax''. The four species that remain in ''Cardisoma'' are found in warm coastal regions where they live in burrows. Young individu ...

spp.''), is a colourful

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Gecarcinidae The Gecarcinidae, the land crabs, are a family of true crabs that are adapted for terrestrial existence. Similar to all other crabs, land crabs possess a series of gills. In addition, the part of the carapace covering the gills is inflated and eq ...

Distribution

It is found along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast from South Padre Island,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

south to

Macuto Macuto is a seaside city in Vargas (state), Vargas state, Venezuela. The city has a long history of attracting Venezuelan political leaders and artists, and popular tourist site today. History Macuto was founded in August 1740 on the site of an ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. It also inhabits the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

and the islands of the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Relatives

The

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

in relations to the Pacific ''Gecarcinus quadratus'' is disputed, with many considering it and ''G. lateralis'' to be conspecific. Another closely related species, ''

Gecarcinus ruricola ''Gecarcinus ruricola'' is a species of terrestrial crab. It is the most terrestrial of the Caribbean land crabs, and is found from western Cuba across the Antilles as far east as Barbados. Common names for ''G. ruricola'' include the purple land ...

'', occurs together with ''G. lateralis'' in the tropical western Atlantic, but its

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

is typically almost entirely blackish, dark

maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

, purplish or yellowish.

Description

As suggested by the name blackback land crab, it has a large blackish spot, which, although the exact shape is variable, covers a large part of the central

("back"). The legs, claws and outer sections of the carapace are reddish, orange or whitish. The carapace may reach a width of up to .

Ecology

''G. lateralis'' occurs along the dry zone of sandy

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es and nearby hills, around above the highest high tide mark, where there is no standing water, but significant interstitial moisture. They need to return to the ocean to breed (the

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

are released into the sea). Furthermore, its gills need to be moist all the time, or it will die. Compared to most other

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

, its blood also has a higher

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

carrying capacity. It is largely herbivorous, but will take animal matter if available.

Distribution

Relatives

Description

Ecology

References

Further reading