Austruca perplexa

Austruca perplexa is a species of fiddler crab. It is found from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan to India, throughout the Malay Archipelago, along eastern Australian coasts from Queensland to New South Wales, and in various Pacific islands, including Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.[2][3]

Austruca perplexa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Ocypodidae
Subfamily: Gelasiminae
Tribe: Gelasimni
Genus: Austruca
Species:
A. perplexa
Binomial name
Austruca perplexa
Synonyms
  • Gelasimus perplexus H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
  • Uca annulipes var. albimana H. Milne-Edwards, 1852
  • Uca lactea perplexa (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837)
  • Uca perplexa (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837)
Male lemon-yellow clawed fiddler crab (Austruca perplexa), waving

Austruca perplexa was formerly in the genus Uca, but in 2016 it was placed in the genus Austruca, a former subgenus of Uca.[4][5][6]

As in other fiddler crabs, the male has a greatly enlarged claw, which is used for signalling. The higher the claw is waved by the male, the greater his chance of attracting a female; the size of the claw is therefore subject to sexual selection.[7]

Austruca perplexa is usually found on sandy substrates near river mouths or on sheltered beaches in the mid-intertidal zone, usually near mangroves.[8]

References
  1. Peter K. L. Ng; Danièle Guinot & Peter J. F. Davie (2008). "Systema Brachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran crabs of the world" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 17: 1–286.
  2. "Species Uca perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1852)". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008.
  3. "Uca perplexa". Crabs of Japan. Marine Species Identification Portal.
  4. 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.
  5. 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).
  6. "WoRMS taxon details, Austruca mjoebergi (Rathbun, 1924)". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. Minoru Murai; Patricia R. Y. Backwell & Michael D. Jennions (2009). "The cost of reliable signaling: experimental evidence for predictable variation among males in a cost-benefit trade-off between sexually selected traits". Evolution. 63 (9): 2363–2371. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00726.x. PMID 19453725.
  8. "Queensland Coast: Guide to Fiddler Crabs of Queensland". 4 April 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.