''Afruca tangeri'' is a

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 appropriate s ...

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 ...

that lives along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coasts of western Africa and southwestern Europe.

Description

''Afruca tangeri'' is one of the largest species of

, with a

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 ...

up to wide, and up to long. The males have one claw much larger than the other, which they use for communication. Body colouration is fairly dull for a fiddler crab, but individuals are a variety of colours from dull shades of brown, to bright orange, red or purple.

Distribution

The

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of ''Afruca tangeri'' extends from southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

southwards to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

;. It is the only fiddler crab species on the Eastern Atlantic coast and the most abundant crab in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Taxonomy

''Afruca tangeri'' was first described by

Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux (23 April 1802 – 6 July 1841) was a French naturalist. Biography Eydoux and Louis François Auguste Souleyet were surgeon naturalists on the expedition ship "La Favorite" which made a circumnavigation in 1830-32 ...

in 1835 as ''Gelasimus tangeri'', but for many years it was part of the genus ''Uca'', which then contained all the fiddler crabs worldwide. Fiddler crabs, and all crabs in the family ''Ocipodidae'' have recently undergone a major taxonomic revision using new molecular phylogenetic evidence, which divided the fiddler crabs into 13 new genera. Therefore, the West African fiddler crab now forms the only species in the new genus, ''Afruca''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

' refers to the

Gulf of Tangier A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, the species' type locality. The

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

preferred by the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

is ''West African fiddler crab'' (french: gélasime africain; pt, boca-cava-terra).

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q3819528, from2=Q98768365 Ocypodoidea Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1835

Description

Distribution

Taxonomy

See also

References