News Karnataka
Friday, March 29 2024
Cricket
Web

Grumpy ghost crabs growl at enemies using teeth in stomach

Photo Credit :

Pic: imageBROKER/Shutterstock

It is the first known instance of an animal using stomach sounds to communicate, and means their claws are free to attack.

A particularly grumpy type of crab scares off predators by growling at them using teeth in its stomach, new research has revealed.

The sounds made by both male and female ghost crabs occur during “aggressive interactions”, scientists said.

It is the first known instance of an animal using stomach sounds to communicate, and means their claws are free to attack.

The rumbling is made by “co-opting the gastric mill (grinding teeth of the foregut)”, researchers added, and is loud enough for people to hear unaided.

Biologist Jennifer Taylor, from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, said the abdominal vibrations were “definitely an advantage if a predator is up close”.

“They can pull out their claws and be ready to lunge, but still produce these sounds,” she told The Guardian.

Ms Taylor added that “ghost crabs have evolved specialised structures on their claws for making sounds but they also adopt this second method as a backup”.

If their claws are already busy, “they can make the same sounds internally”.

Ghost crabs – also known as sand crabs – have one claw larger than the other, thick and elongated eyestalks, and a box-like body.

The research is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

News Courtesy: Sky News

Share this:
MANY DROPS MAKE AN OCEAN
Support NewsKarnataka's quality independent journalism with a small contribution.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

To get the latest news on WhatsApp