''Leptuca leptodactyla'', commonly known as the thin-fingered fiddler crab or the western Atlantic fiddler crab, is a species of
fiddler crab
The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than th ...
native to the western Atlantic coast of the Americas.
[
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Taxonomy
Previously a member of the genus ''Uca
The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, whil ...
'', the species was transferred in 2016 to the genus ''Leptuca
''Leptuca'' is a genus of fiddler crabs belonging to the family Ocypodidae.
The species of this genus are found on the coasts of the Americas.
Description
They are small- to large-sized crabs with an adult carapace width of 5–25 mm in adult ...
'' when ''Leptuca
''Leptuca'' is a genus of fiddler crabs belonging to the family Ocypodidae.
The species of this genus are found on the coasts of the Americas.
Description
They are small- to large-sized crabs with an adult carapace width of 5–25 mm in adult ...
'' was promoted from subgenus to genus level.[
]
Description
The carapace
A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...
can be up to 13mm wide.[
]
Distribution
The range of the crab includes southern Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, Mexico, the West Indies, Venezuela, and Brazil.[ Within Brazil, the crab is present along the coast between the states of Maranhão and Santa Catarina.][
]
Habitat
The species lives in brackish and saline environments, including mangrove stands and intertidal sand flats.[ It prefers sandy substrate.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q106941049
Ocypodoidea
Crustaceans described in 1898