Leptuca cumulanta
Leptuca cumulanta, commonly known as the heaping fiddler crab or the mangrove fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab native to tropical and subtropical areas of the western Atlantic.[1][2]
| Leptuca cumulanta | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Ocypodidae |
| Subfamily: | Gelasiminae |
| Tribe: | Minucini |
| Genus: | Leptuca |
| Species: | L. cumulanta |
| Binomial name | |
| Leptuca cumulanta (Crane, 1943) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Uca cumulanta Crane, 1943 | |
Taxonomy
Previously a member of the genus Uca, the species was transferred in 2016 to the genus Leptuca when Leptuca was promoted from subgenus to genus level.[3][4]
Description
Carapace width is approximately 12–13 mm in adult males and 8–9 mm in adult females.[1][5] Displaying males exhibit bright blue green carapaces.[5]
Distribution
The crab can be found in Central America (Panama), South America (Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil), and the Caribbean (Curaçao, Jamaica, and Trinidad).[2][5] In Brazil, the crab can be found along the coast between the states of Para and Rio de Janeiro.[2][6]
Habitat
The species lives in brackish environments of low to moderate salinity, including mangrove stands and open mudflats.[2] It lives on sandy silt and sandy clay substrate, and prefers substrate with at least some clay incorporated within it.[1][2]
References
- Koch, Volker; Wolff, Matthias; Diele, Karen (2005). "Comparative population dynamics of four fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae, genus Uca) from a North Brazilian mangrove ecosystem" (PDF). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 291: 177–188.
- Thurman, Carl L.; Faria, Samuel C.; McNamara, John C. (2013). "The distribution of fiddler crabs (Uca) along the coast of Brazil: implications for biogeography of the western Atlantic Ocean". Marine Biodiversity Records. 6: e1.
- Shih, Hsi-Te; Ng, Peter K. L.; Davie, Peter J. F.; Schubart, Christoph D.; et al. (2016). "Systematics of the family Ocypodidae Rafinesque, 1815 (Crustacea: Brachyura), based on phylogenetic relationships, with a reorganization of subfamily rankings and a review of the taxonomic status of Uca Leach, 1814, sensu lato and its subgenera" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 64: 139–175.
- Rosenberg, Michael S. (2019). "A fresh look at the biodiversity lexicon for fiddler crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Ocypodidae). Part 1: Taxonomy". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 39 (6): 729–738.
- Crane, Jocelyn (1975). Fiddler Crabs of the World. Ocypodidae: Genus Uca (PDF). New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press.
- Melo, Gustavo Augusto Schmidt (1996). Manual de identificação dos Brachyura (caranguejos e siris) do litoral Brasileiro. São Paulo: Plêiade/FAPESP.
