Biology of the Land Crabs [Hardcover]

Warren W. Burggren (Editor), Brian R. McMahon (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521306906 | ISBN-13: 978-0521306904 | Publication Date: April 29, 1988

Interest in land crabs has burgeoned as biologists have increasingly focused on the evolution of terrestriality. Before the publication of this volume in 1988, there had been no single comprehensive source of information to serve biologists interested in the diverse aspects of terrestrial decapod crustacean. Biology of the Land Crabs was the first synthesis of recent and long-established findings on brachyuran and anomuran crustaceans that have evolved varying degrees of adaptation for life on land. Chapters by leading researchers take a coordinated evolutionary and comparative approach to systematics and evolution, ecology, behaviour, reproduction, growth and molting, ion and water balance, respiration and circulation, and energetics and locomotion. Each discusses how terrestrial species have become adapted from ancestral freshwater or marine forms. With its extensive bibliography and comprehensive index, including the natural history of nearly eighty species of brachyuran and anomuran crabs, Biology of the Land Crabs will continue to be an invaluable reference for researchers and advanced students.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Interest in land crabs has burgeoned as biologists have increasingly focused on the evolution of terrestriality. With its extensive bibliography and comprehensive index, including the natural history of nearly eighty species of brachyuran and anomuran crabs, Biology of the Land Crabs will continue to be an invaluable reference for researchers and advanced students.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 492 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 29, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521306906
• ISBN-13: 978-0521306904
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,631,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should Be Titled "The Detailed But Incomplete Biology of the Land Crabs", November 11, 2010

By 

Cheryl D. Millard "Cheryl D. Millard" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Biology of the Land Crabs (Paperback)

Although incomplete I enjoyed it and gathered knowledge not otherwise known, but it does have it's short comings like it shows a picture of a hermit "crab" on the front, but the hermit "crab" is not a "true crab". As the custodian of over 100+ of the hermit crab (Coenobita), clypeatus I was disappointed that the genus (Coenobita) often used in the pet trade was not addressed in a manner so new owners as well as more experienced to the professional keepers could obtain new information to better the lives and lengthen the life span of these interesting crustaceans as some can reach the ripe old age of 20 to 30 years in either captivity or in their natural environment as they have not been successfully bred in captivity, and the books offered at pet stores are inconsistent, but helpful if a wide selection are purchased compared to one another. This book would be great for the biologist and those advanced individuals who keep crabs, hermits, etc.
Although very scientific in nature a lot of interesting information was left out that has been observed both in captivity and in the wild. Such as the below information taken from my website.
At the northern edge of the range in the Bermuda Islands there is a special problem, the large shell that the Land Hermits needed to continue their growth are all extinct. In many of the Caribbean Islands the hermits would rather use the conical black and white colored Turban shell called (Cittarium pica) formally Livonia. Many visitors to those Islands think that the species is the most abundant shell the land hermits use, but the shells are excavated sometimes miles away and often on hillsides.

In the wild there is a phenomena called a "Shell Convention"hundreds to thousands of land hermits get together and start to trade shells one by one , it starts to cascade into a mass shell trading frenzy with mating often occurring at the same time too.

Some crabs may start to often switch shells prior to a molt,they may go down a size because it's easier to burrow into their substrate while wearing the smaller shell,when the molting process is completed they will the trade up to the larger shell to accommodate their new growth.

You will have to cut and paste the link. I will do more editing later.