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 Edit this 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Crane, Jocelyn (1975). Fiddler Crabs of the World. Ocypodidae: Genus Uca (PDF). New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press.
  6. Melo, Gustavo Augusto Schmidt (1996). Manual de identificação dos Brachyura (caranguejos e siris) do litoral Brasileiro. São Paulo: Plêiade/FAPESP.
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