Austruca_perplexa

<i>Austruca perplexa</i>

Austruca perplexa

Species of crab

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]

Quick Facts Austruca perplexa, Scientific classification ...
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] Furthermore, larger male fiddler crabs wave their claws at a faster rate than smaller fiddler crabs to attract larger females. Larger females are more desirable because they produce more eggs than smaller females.[8]

Austruca perplexa is usually found on sandy substrates near river mouths or on sheltered beaches in the mid-intertidal zone, usually near mangroves.[9]

References

  1. [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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  2. [2]
    "Species Uca perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1852)". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008.
  3. [3]
    "Uca perplexa". Crabs of Japan. Marine Species Identification Portal.
  4. [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. [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. [6]
    "WoRMS taxon details, Austruca mjoebergi (Rathbun, 1924)". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. [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. [8]
    Tina, Fahmida Wazed; Muramatsu, Daisuke (October 2019). Bertram, Susan (ed.). "Size‐dependent mating preference of the male fiddler crab Austruca perplexa". Ethology. 126 (1): 68–75. doi:10.1111/eth.12961. ISSN 0179-1613.
  9. [9]
    "Queensland Coast: Guide to Fiddler Crabs of Queensland". 4 April 2015.


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