Local Crab caught at Cape Samy, Praslin Island
The crab is quite rare these days. Although I recall as a young boy joining a few other friends from the village of Grand’Anse on Praslin island at low tide in the early evening on full moon days armed with a goony or hessian/gunny bag we would go to the beach at Nouvelle Découverte, where the marsh meets the sea and literally just picked crabs in the shallow waters.
Brown Land Crab or Tyangoman
Land Crab- Tyangoman
The Brown Land Crab attracts little culinary interest although they are edible. The brown land crab was found in large quantities on Praslin and this gave rise to the saying ‘Pralinois I manze tyangoman,’which is not totally true. The crab can have shells as wide as 12cm. They are mainly herbivorous, have reddish to chestnut brown colour and bright yellow pincers. They live in burrows and are often seen hurrying around mangrove forests and coastal areas. They are used mainly as bait for the fish traps.
I was the General Manager of Cote d’Or Lodge, located on Cote d’Or Beach of Praslin in the early 1980s. There was a marsh system behind the hotel and it had a very large colony of the crabs living in it. It was an awesome sight to watch them, once a year, in their hundreds, crossing the road and the hotel compound to perform their obligatory periodic seaward migrations in order to spawn.
Rock Crabs or Karkasay
Rock Crab- Karkasay
These rock crabs locally known as karkasay are normally found just above the water level in the cracks of rocks. They usually feed on the particles that are deposited on the rocks by the pounding waves. They are also called swift-footed crabs as they move pretty fast when they notice anyone approaching. They are usually collected on dark nights. A flashlight is enough to blind them and render them immobile. Be careful when collecting them as they have very fine spikes on their shells that can easily hurt a novice’s hand. It is recommended that you always go hunting in pairs – one person carries a bag and the flashlight while the other person does the collection.
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