''Leptuca uruguayensis'', commonly known as the Uruguayan fiddler crab or the southwestern Atlantic fiddler crab, is a species of
fiddler crab native to temperate and subtropical areas of the southeastern coast of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
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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'' when ''Leptuca'' was promoted from subgenus to genus level.[
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Description
The adult crab's 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 ...
is usually between wide.[ Non-breeding males have a green carapace and red major cheliped; when breeding, the carapace of the male whitens.][ The major cheliped can remain red or also whiten.
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Distribution
The crab is native to South America where its range includes Brazil, Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, and Argentina.[
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Habitat
The species lives on silty sand or sandy silt soils with some organic matter.[ It prefers brackish and saline environments of moderate to high salinity.][
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References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q107086624, from2=Q14510166
Ocypodoidea
Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean
Crustaceans described in 1901