Red land crab

Appearance

The carapace of ''G. quadratus'' may reach a length of 5 centimetres . It has a pair of largely purple claws, reddish-orange legs, and an almost entirely blackish carapace with a pair of yellow, orange or maroon spots behind the eyes, and an additional pair of whitish spots on the central-lower carapace.

This nocturnal crab digs burrows – sometimes as long as 1.5 metres – in the coastal rainforests of Central America, and is common along the coasts of Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. It lives in the forest at least some of its adult life, but needs to return to the ocean to breed. It is largely herbivorous, and consumes leaf litter and seedlings.

Distribution

''G. quadratus'' is found in mangrove, sand dunes and rainforest along the Pacific coast from Mexico south to Peru. The taxonomy in relation to the Atlantic ''Gecarcinus lateralis'' is disputed, with many considering it and ''G. quadratus'' to be conspecific.

Behavior

The carapace of ''G. quadratus'' may reach a length of 5 centimetres . It has a pair of largely purple claws, reddish-orange legs, and an almost entirely blackish carapace with a pair of yellow, orange or maroon spots behind the eyes, and an additional pair of whitish spots on the central-lower carapace.

This nocturnal crab digs burrows – sometimes as long as 1.5 metres – in the coastal rainforests of Central America, and is common along the coasts of Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. It lives in the forest at least some of its adult life, but needs to return to the ocean to breed. It is largely herbivorous, and consumes leaf litter and seedlings.