Scientists discovered a new species of master climber and that is a crab. It’s been often thought that crabs could only live in water but, these new findings had changed everyone’s conventional conception. This terrestrial crab can climb trees, scientists found this species on the eastern coast of Hong Kong.
In the journal of ZooKeys, researchers mentioned that during the survey they have observed the carb can climb approximately 1.5 - 1.8 meters of height by walking on the on the bark of the branches. A joint research team from the Swire Institute of Marine Science at the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore led by Dr. Stefano Cannicci analyzed the characteristics of the crab.
Researchers named this newly discovered species as “Haberma tingkok”. According to Science Daily, the crab has a square-shaped body with dark brown colored carapace. It has very long legs and the chelipeds are bright orange. Those crabs are not more than one centimeter, the specimen which scientists caught were only 8-9 millimeter long.
Dr. Peter Ng who was also involved with the study, wrote in the journal,“The discovery of the tiny crustacean once again proves how little is known about the diversity of these crabs in Hong Kong”. The new species was categorized under a small genus named “Haberma” which was established just 15 years ago. There are only three species discovered yet under this genus and all of the species were discovered by Dr. NG.
in spite of having a small size, it is still easier to distinguish the sex of those crabs, NG explained. The chelipeds of the males are slightly bulky in size, while in females they are distinctly more slender. This discovery is a new breakthrough and it provides new details about the evolutionary diversities of these crabs. However, their habitat is now in danger. pollutions and land reclamations are directly impacting on the mangroves. Researchers are planning to conserve their species and protect their habitat.
