''Leptuca batuenta'', commonly known as the beating fiddler crab, is a species of
fiddler crab
The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly l ...
native to the tropical eastern Pacific, from
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
to northern
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
.
[
]
Taxonomy
Previously a member of the genus ''Uca
The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly lar ...
'', the species was transferred in 2016 to the genus ''Leptuca
''Leptuca'' is a genus of fiddler crabs belonging to the family Ocypodidae.
The species of this genus are found on the coasts of the Americas.
Description
They are small- to large-sized crabs with an adult carapace width of 5–25 mm in adu ...
'' when ''Leptuca'' was promoted from subgenus to genus level.[
]
Description
This crab is very small; carapace
A carapace is a 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 tortoises, the unde ...
width is approximately in adult males and in adult females.[ Both sexes have a pale brown to yellow carapace with some white marbling.][ Individuals may have green eyestalks.][
]
Habitat
The species can be found on open mudflats and among unshaded mangrove roots.[ It prefers mud substrate.
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q107086585, from2=Q14510137
Ocypodoidea
Crustaceans of the eastern Pacific Ocean
Taxa named by Jocelyn Crane
Crustaceans described in 1941