Photo of the day

A red mangrove crab scuttles along the ground next to pencil-like roots. The trees that grow in the ocean, called “mangroves,” thrive in muddy, salty, and oxygen-poor conditions that are too harsh for most other plant life. But as it turns out, a lot of different animals love living in the mangroves! These include mangrove crabs, which have been shown to be ecologically significant in many ways, such as burying and consuming leaf litter to keep energy within the forest. If a predator threatens them, mangrove crabs can zoom up the trunks of trees to protect themselves. Apart from hermit crabs, they are the only crustacean that can do this. The health of mangrove forests and wildlife is completely interconnected, so taking steps to save one translates into helping the other, along with the entire ocean.

Image © Samuel Toh

Image © Samuel Toh

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