''Gecarcoidea lalandii'' is a large species of

terrestrial crab A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as '' Sesarma'', althou ...

. It is dark purple in colour, with long legs and short pincers. It is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, so spends most of the day hiding in

burrow file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal lo ...

s. Compared to the related '' G. natalis'', ''G. lalandii'' is relatively widespread, being found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

from the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

and eastwards. Adults mainly occur in forest, but can sometimes be found in more open habitats. When carrying eggs, females migrate to the coast, where they release the eggs in the

tidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...

. Small adults sometimes fall prey to the crab ''

Geograpsus ''Geograpsus'' is a genus of crabs in the family Grapsidae, containing four extant taxon, extant species, and one extinct species: *''Geograpsus crinipes'' (Dana, 1851) *''Geograpsus grayi'' (H. Milne-Edwards, 1853) *''Geograpsus lividus'' (H. Mi ...

crinipes''.

References

Terrestrial crustaceans Grapsoidea Crustaceans described in 1837 Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards {{Eubrachyura-stub