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Leptuca terpsichores

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Leptuca terpsichores
Scientific classification Edit this 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. terpsichores
Binomial name
Leptuca terpsichores
(Crane, 1941)
Synonyms

Uca terpsichores (basionym)

Leptuca terpsichores, commonly known as the dancing fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab native to the eastern Pacific coast of the Americas, from Nicaragua to Peru.[1]

Taxonomy

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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.[2][3] At one time, the species was considered a subspecies of L. musica.[1]

Description

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The adult carapace is approximately 7 mm wide.[1] The carapace is grey in color and males may exhibit yellow dorsal markings.[1]

Similar species

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Leptuca terpsichores is smaller than L. musica.[1] L. terpsichores has smaller tubercles on the outer manus and fewer tubercles along the anterior carapace.[1] The gape in the major cheliped is less serrate and the gape in the minor cheliped is slightly narrower.[1]

Habitat

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The species can be found on bay shores with muddy sand substrate.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Crane, Jocelyn (1975). Fiddler Crabs of the World. Ocypodidae: Genus Uca (PDF). New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press.
  2. ^ 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" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 64: 139–175.
  3. ^ 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): 729–738. doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruz057.