Igod (eegood',orig. Tagalog-Marinduque. Coconut Crab English). Also known as Robber Crab. (Scientific name: bistro latro), large, nocturnal land crab commonly found in the islands of Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean. This crab has two large pincers that it uses to open coconuts. Its primary diet is the white meat inside the coconut. Its shell has a color ranging from deep purple to light violet with brownish colors near the legs and pincers. The female lays her eggs in the sea, become larvae called zoeas. After about a month, the larvae become glaucothoes. They leave the sea and look for seashell to live for another month. This aligns the coconut crab to the family of Hermit Crab (Gaseños call the hermit crab, "Umang", a good fish bait that abounds the shore). As it outgrowns its shell, it gets out of it and buries itself into moist sand where it starts its adulthood. Its stomach remains soft like a pouch and akin to a hermit crab, it is curled up as if it is still in its home shell. It is a way to protect itself from the environment and other animals. |
Coconut crabs can be caught in the islands of Tres Reyes and neighboring Dos Hermanas.
It is a local delicacy. The white meat, protected by the hard shell, tastes
like a lobster or crab. But the most sought part of igod is the fat and eggs
inside the stomach pouch. It resembles the orange fat in a female crab. For those
who are fond of exotic food, this comes as a treat. |
Did you know??? ..........That the coconut lobster will drown when submerged to the water. Despite the fact that it originated from the water, its adult
breathing mechanism has adopted to land that it can no longer support itself
living under the sea. |
In other parts of the world, the coconut crab adults are known to grow to about 1
meter from head to tail and could weigh about 17 kg. Due to the relentless and
uncontrolled harvesting, fewer and fewer igods are caught in Marinduque and they
seem to get smaller and smaller in time. Can we help save them? |
Coconut crab can be boiled or steamed. But Marinduqueños may cook it using coconut
milk in variety of ways. That makes you pause and wonder; the life
of igod really revolves around the coconut..... Truly it is a coconut crab! |
