Dear Vardhan,
This is reg. your mail.on Robber Crabs.
Robber crabs (Birgus latro) are actually very much distributed in
some of the Islands of Andaman and Nicobar. Here's some information
from the Nicobar Islands that you might find usefull.I got records
of this species mainly from the Central Nicobar group of Islands
(especially Katchall, where i had opportunities to oberve them). Its
a delicacy for the Nicobarese. They catch them using coconut baits,
tied on sea (rocky) shores, which attracts individuals. They are
caught and usually kept alive. I observed them hung (alive) in the
Kitchen (This was in West Bay region, one of the worst affected
areas in the Island). The other Island, where is oberved them was in
the remote Island of Tillanchong. Here, the species was actually
kept in captive conditions for consumption by the police personnels
posted out there.
Iam not aware of any research on the populations that occur in the A
& N Islands, but this species has been well studied in other parts,
especially Pacific Islands. You can find some interesting references
in the following link.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC281E/AC281E12.htm

A search on the web, provided one interested result, some thing
important in the context of the recent tsunami!
Heres a copy & paste of the sentence published in Nature

"research highlights
CONTEXT: ...Curr. Biol. 15, 116–121 (2005) Despite being
descended from marine ancestors, the robber crab Birgus latro would
drown in water. But it has no fear of heights, and can...
Nature 433, 474-474 (03 Feb 2005)"

I will keep you updated in case of any new information. I will also
keep an eye on them during my next visit. Are you planning to do any
study on them?

Regards,
Vijay

S.P.Vijayakumar
Research Fellow,
Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
Dehradun 248001

http://www.geocities.com/rainforestfrogs







--- In andamanicobar@..., vadhan patankar
<vardhan_patankar@y...> wrote:
> hello friends,
>
> I would like to know is robber crab is still found on A & N
islands and if yes, where exactly would i present them ( in which
part of the Islands)
> I would also like to know if anybody is doing research on them.
>
> Thank you
>
> Vardhan
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]