South Korea: Red-foot crab in the marine life of the month in June

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries selected the “red-footed horse dung crab” as the marine creature of the month in June, named for its red claws and smell of horse dung. The red-footed horse dung crab is a species belonging to the crab family, and as the name suggests, the whole body and claws are red and smell of horse dung. The red-footed dung crab is a medium-sized crab with a carapace of about 3 cm in length and width. The claws have dense granular bumps, and there are many blackish-brown hairs on the legs. Red-footed crabs spend a lot of time out of water, but they cannot live in dry places because they breathe through gills like ordinary crabs. It is also omnivorous, so it feeds on plants such as reeds, carcasses of dead animals, and organic matter from tidal flats, and plays a role in cleaning the sea. The red-footed dung crab is distributed in the Pacific and Indian Ocean coasts such as Korea, Southeast Asia, and Australia, and in Korea, it is known to inhabit the West ...