Leptuca spinicarpa

Leptuca spinicarpa, commonly known as the spiny-wristed fiddler crab or the spined fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab native to coastal habitats along the Gulf of Mexico from northwestern Florida to Mexico.[1][2]

Leptuca spinicarpa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Ocypodidae
Subfamily: Gelasiminae
Tribe: Minucini
Genus: Leptuca
Species:
L. spinicarpa
Binomial name
Leptuca spinicarpa
(Rathbun, 1900)
Synonyms

Uca spinicarpa (basionym)

Taxonomy

Previously a member of the genus Uca, the species was transferred in 2016 to the genus Leptuca when Leptuca was promoted from subgenus to genus level.[3][4]

At one time, L. spinicarpa was reduced to a subspecies of L. speciosa,[5] but this is no longer accepted due to morphological, genetic, and behavioral differences.[6]

Description

The carapace can be up to 23mm wide and is often green in color in the frontal area.[7] Strongly raised tuberculate ridges are present on the palm of the male's major cheliped; a large tubercle is present on the carpus.[6][7]

Habitat

The species lives in fresh to brackish water on intertidal banks and marshes with firm clay, clay-sand, or clay-mud substratum.[7]

References
  1. Rosenberg, Michael S. (2014). "Contextual cross-referencing of species names for fiddler crabs (genus Uca): An experiment in cyber-taxonomy". PLoS ONE. 9 (7).
  2. 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).
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. Crane, Jocelyn (1975). Fiddler Crabs of the World: Ocypodidae: Genus Uca. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, USA.
  6. Arruda Bezerra, Luis; Alves Coelho, Petronio (2010). "Redescription of the fiddler crab Uca spinicarpa Rathbun, 1900 (Decapoda: Ocypodidae)" (PDF). Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research. 38 (2).
  7. Heard, Richard W. (1982). Guide to common tidal marsh invertebrates of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. MASGP-79-004. NOAA, Office of Sea Grant.
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