Leptuca speciosa
| Leptuca speciosa | |
|---|---|
Scientific 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. speciosa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Leptuca speciosa (Ives, 1891)
| |
Leptuca speciosa, commonly known as the brilliant fiddler crab or the longfinger fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab native to the southern United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean.[1]
Before 2016, the species was known as Uca speciosa. In 2016, the subgenus Leptuca was promoted to the genus level.[2][3]
Description[edit]
The carapace can be up to 15mm wide.[4] The large claw of the male is long and whitish, with the carpus lacking a distinct tubercle on the inner margin. Specimens from the Florida Keys are typically smaller than specimens from the northern Gulf.
Distribution[edit]
In the United States, the crabs are present along the coast of Florida and on the outer islands of Alabama and Mississippi.[1][4] The crabs are also present on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, a few islands in the Bahamas, and the western tip of Cuba.[1][5]
Habitat[edit]
The species lives in brackish water on silt or silty sand substrata in intertidal marshes or mangrove thickets.[4]
Similar species[edit]
The range of the species rarely overlaps with the closely related L. spinicarpa, which frequents lower salinity habitat.[4] Formerly, L. spinicarpa was described as a subspecies of L. speciosa.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Hopkins, Melanie J.; Thurman, Carl L. (2010). "The geographic structure of morphological variation in eight species of fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae: genus Uca) from the eastern United States and Mexico". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 100 (1): 248–270. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01402.x. S2CID 82678219.
- ^ 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". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 64.
- ^ 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).
- ^ a b c d e Heard, Richard W. (1982). "Guide to common tidal marsh invertebrates of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico". MASGP-79-004. NOAA, Office of Sea Grant.
- ^ Rosenberg, Michael S. (2020). "A fresh look at the biodiversity lexicon for fiddler crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Ocypodidae). Part 2: Biogeography". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 40 (4): 364–383. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruaa029.