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Mangrove crabs are
crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...
s that live among
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
s, and may belong to many different
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
and even families. They have been shown to be
ecologically Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...
significant in many ways. They keep much of the energy within the
forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
by burying and consuming
leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...
. Along with burrowing in the ground, at high tide and in the face of predators these crustaceans can climb trees to protect themselves. The hermit crab and the mangrove crab are the only crustaceans that can climb trees as a defense mechanism. Furthermore, their
feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a rela ...
may form the basis of a coprophagous food chain contributing to mangrove secondary production. Mangrove crab larvae are the major source of food for
juvenile fish Fish go through various life stages between fertilization and adulthood. The life of a fish start as spawned eggs which hatch into immotile larvae. These larval hatchlings are not yet capable of feeding themselves and carry a yolk sac whic ...
inhabiting the adjacent waterways, indicating that crabs also help nearshore
fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...
. The adult crabs are food for threatened species such as the
crab plover The crab-plover or crab plover (''Dromas ardeola)'' is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Dromadidae. Its relationship within the Charadriiformes is unclear, some have considered it to be closely ...
. Their burrows alter the
topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
and sediment grain size of the mangrove, and help aerate the sediment. Removing crabs from an area causes significant increases in
sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds la ...
s and
ammonium The ammonium cation is a positively-charged polyatomic ion with the chemical formula or . It is formed by the protonation of ammonia (). Ammonium is also a general name for positively charged or protonated substituted amines and quaterna ...
concentrations, which in turn affects the productivity and reproductive output of the vegetation, supporting the hypothesis that mangrove crabs are a
keystone species A keystone species is a species which has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, a concept introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaini ...
.


Species of mangrove crabs

* '' Aratus pisonii'', Americas * '' Haberma'', genus of small mangrove crabs,
Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
, including: ** '' Haberma tingkok'', Hong Kong * '' Metopograpsus messor'',
Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
* '' Metopograpsus thukuhar'', Indo-Pacific * '' Neosarmatium meinerti'', Indo-Pacific * '' Neosarmatium smithi'', Indo-Pacific * '' Parasesarma leptosoma'', western Indian Ocean * '' Perisesarma'', genus with 23 species, primarily Indo-Pacific, with two West African species, including: ** '' Perisesarma bidens'', Indo-Pacific ** '' Perisesarma guttatum'', western Indian Ocean * '' Scylla serrata'', Indo-Pacific * '' Scylla tranquebarica'', Indo-Pacific * '' Sesarma'', genus with close to 20 species, many of which live in mangroves, Americas, Indo-Pacific * ''
Ucides cordatus ''Ucides cordatus'', the swamp ghost crab (or ''caranguejo-uçá'' in Portuguese), is one of two species of crabs in the genus ''Ucides''. This species of crab is native to many coasts off of the western Atlantic Ocean. It has been found to be na ...
'', western Atlantic Ocean


See also

*
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 sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, whil ...
*
Grapsidae The Grapsidae are a family of crabs known variously as marsh crabs, shore crabs, or talon crabs. The family has not been confirmed to form a monophyletic group and some taxa may belong in other families. They are found along the shore among rock ...
* Mangrove ecoregions


References

{{Reflist, 2


External links


East African mangrove crabs





Mangrove crab ''Ucides cordatus'' (Brazil)

Complete larval and early juvenile development of the mangrove crab ''Perisesarma fasciatum'' (Singapore)

Laboratory cultured zoeae and megalopa of the mangrove crab ''Metaplax distincta''

Regulation of pulmonary blood flow and of blood pressure in a mangrove crab (''Goniopsis cruentata'')

''Haberma nanum'', a new genus and new species of mangrove crab from Singapore
Crabs Mangrove fauna Arthropod common names ja:ノコギリガザミ