Flatback Mud Crab

Photo: Thanyarat Sukruan · CC BY-NC

Large mud crabs occupy the muddy substrate around the lake margins and in the mangrove root system, emerging at night to scavenge and hunt. They are a key nutrient recycler in the lake's enclosed ecosystem, breaking down organic matter that sinks from the productive upper layer. Snorkellers observing the shoreline at dusk frequently encounter adults defending territories beneath overhanging mangrove roots.