TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Baby coconut crabs were spotted on Taiwan’s Green Island for the first time in a discovery that researchers say is a boon for further investigation into the species.

Researchers from the Ministry of Agriculture's biodiversity research institute said that during observations conducted in mid-June, they observed multiple juvenile coconut crabs in different stages of their life cycles. The researchers said no such discovery has been made previously, and it indicates a self-sustaining coconut crab population and habitat.

According to the biodiversity institute, coconut crabs live in tropical forests near the coast, and their name comes from their ability to climb coconut trees and crack open the hard shell of the fruits with their claws.

Coconut crabs are a type of hermit crab, and adults are about 1 meter from leg tip to leg tip and weigh about 4.5 kilograms. The crabs are protected by Taiwan’s Wildlife Conservation Act and are mostly found in Pingtung, Taitung, and the coastal areas of Taiwan’s eastern outlying islands, though they have also recently been spotted in Keelung.

Ecological surveys on Green Island have been carried out since 2020, and they are an initiative of Taiwan’s transport bureau, under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Green Island is about 30 kilometers off Taitung on Taiwan’s east coast and is also home to Formosan sika deer, Taiwanese muntjacs, and other native species.

A four-year-old coconut crab is photographed on Green Island. (Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute photo)