Cancer puru Curtiss, 1938

Ng, Peter K. L., Eldredge, Lucius G. & Evenhuis, Neal L., 2011, The names of decapod and stomatopod Crustacea from Tahiti, French Polynesia, established by Anthony Curtiss in 1938 and 1944, Zootaxa 3099, pp. 43-56 : 47

Cancer puru Curtiss, 1938 [áveu; uá vahi haári]

Cancer latro Linnaeus, 1767: 1049 .

Cancer puru Curtiss, 1938: 169 , n. syn.

Curtiss (1938: 168) noted that “The coconut crab, called at Tahiti áveu or uá vahi haári, is not found on Tahiti; but occurs on the islands of Mehetia and Makatea, and in the Tuamotus, where it is called kaveu ”. Curtiss’s (1938: 168–169) detailed description of the adult and its behaviour, even saying at one point “The creature goes about with its arse curved up under its thorax” leave little doubt that the species in question is Birgus latro ( Linnaeus, 1767) (Coenobitidae) . Curtiss (1938: 169) commented that Cancer puru was absent on Tahiti but present on the islands of Mehetia and Makatea. Mehetia is in the Windward Islands to the east of the Society Islands while Makatea in the northwestern part of the Tuamotus. Joseph Poupin (personal communication) confirmed that Birgus latro is still present in Makatea and has been seen photographed there recently. He, however, further commented that “Mehetia is more surprising and I have never heard of its presence there before. It is a small volcanic island in the east of Tahiti, without a lagoon. It is uninhabited and rarely visited by Polynesians. As it is uninhabited, however, Birgus latro can be found there because this animal tends to occur in uninhabited places”. As is true throughout its range, Birgus latro is extensively hunted for food and, unless protected, is quickly made extinct in areas where there are human inhabitants. With regards to the Marquesas, Joseph Poupin (personal communication) wrote: “Previous records of Birgus latro in the Marquesas ( Gibson-Hill 1948: 10) are doubtful. I have never seen Birgus latro in this archipelago despite several campaigns and, above all, Marquesas friends of mine that have grown up in the Marquesas told me that they have never seen the coconut crab there and neither have their fathers and grandfathers” (see also Poupin 2005: 81). In addition, Adamson (1935: 18) wrote in his account of the fauna of Marquesas that “Residents in the Islands assured us that it does not occur here”.