Christmas Island Red Crab Does Its Shimmy Dance to Release Eggs

After joining millions of her kind in one of nature’s most dramatic annual migrations, this Christmas Island red crab was recorded completing the life-cycle process with a shimmy as she released her eggs into the sea.

Every year during the wet season, of October to November, Christmas Island’s entire red crab population heads for the coast. There, they mate, with the females remaining behind in burrows to incubate the fertilized eggs, which are then released into the sea. According to National Geographic the release is timed for “precisely when high tide turns between the last quarter and new moon. During this period sea level on the beaches varies the least and offers an easier approach.”

This video, uploaded to Facebook by Hung-Chang Liu, shows a crab performing the species’ characteristic shimmying dance as her eggs are released. The eggs hatch immediately, with the larvae living for about a month at sea before returning to land. Credit: Hung-Chang Liu via Storyful