The secret behind the great migration of red crabs

In October and November each year, several tens of millions of red crabs on Australia's Christmas Island make a long journey to the sea to perform the task of maintaining the race.

The strange migration of red crabs on Australia's Christmas Island is one of the mysteries for thousands of years, because red crabs breathe through their gills and often only move with short distances so they are not really appropriate. with immigration. According to researcher Lucy Turner of the University of Bristol in the UK, scientists don't understand why small crabs have tremendous strength and perseverance to carry out the world's most arduous migration.

Red crabs on the migration program. (NG photo)

By sampling the ' blood ' in the red crab's body, Turner and colleagues discovered that an increase in hyperglycemic crustacean - a type of nerve hormone that regulates glucose levels in the body - stimulates migration behavior. of red crab. Glucose is a sugar that can produce energy. Whenever it comes to the rainy season, the endocrine system of red crab produces more hyperglycemic crustacean so that they can store enough energy for the return trip after childbirth.

It is known that in 1 migration, the number of participating crabs can be up to 65 million. They move about 700 m a day and it takes 9 to 18 days to complete the 8 km journey. For many animals, this path is nothing terrible. But with red crabs, it is a great journey, especially when they travel with tens of millions of animals.

The crabs mate in the caves by the male. After mating the female crab crawls to the sea. Eggs hatch almost immediately after contact with water.