Kerala scientists find new species of crabs with long legs

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Flipboard
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
Scientists discover new species of crabs in Kerala that crawls on trees
Scientists discover new species of crabs in Kerala that crawls on trees

New Delhi : Unlike normal crabs, which crawl on sea, new long-legged crab species that dwell on trees is recently found by scientist in Western Ghats of Kerala that is believed to have strong characteristic. 

Researchers from University of Kerala said, ‘’The long legged crab has the structure of hard upper shell, its male abdominal structure and reproductive parts and diagnostic elongated walking legs, which no other genus has till now.’’

A new variety of crab has been found that lives on trees. This crab came out in a survey of the freshwater crab fauna which started in 2014, on the Western Ghats in Kerala. This long legged crab was first seen by the people of Kani tribe on trees.

After much research, researchers finally spotted a female specimen and later on a large adult male.

"As water holding hollows in large trees are essential for the survival of this unique species, the discovery also stress the need for conservation of large trees in the degraded forest ecosystems of the Western Ghats," said Biju Kumar of University of Kerala.

"It also highlights how little we know about the actual biodiversity that resides in these forests and the efforts that must still be made to find and study the many undoubted new species that still live there," Kumar said.