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A fiddler crab, sometimes known as a calling crab, may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. A smaller number of ghost crab and mangrove crab species are also found in the family Ocypodidae. This entire group is composed of small crabs, the largest being slightly over two inches (5 cm) across. Fiddler crabs are found along sea beaches and brackish intertidal mud flats, lagoons and swamps. Fiddler crabs are most well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, while the females' claws are both the same size.
Mangrove crabs are crabs that live among mangroves, and may belong to many different species and even families. They have been shown to be ecologically significant in many ways. They keep much of the energy within the forest by burying and consuming leaf litter. Along with burrowing in the ground, at high tide and in the face of predators these crustaceans can climb trees to protect themselves. The hermit crab and the mangrove crab are the only crustaceans that can climb trees as a defense mechanism. Furthermore, their feces may form the basis of a coprophagous food chain contributing to mangrove secondary production.
Ocypode is a genus of ghost crabs found in the sandy shores of tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. They have a box-like body, thick and elongated eyestalks, and one claw is larger than the other in both males and females. They inhabit deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are primarily nocturnal, and are generalist scavengers and predators of small animals. The genus contains 21 species.
Majidae is a family of crabs, comprising around 200 marine species inside 52 genera, with a carapace that is longer than it is broad, and which forms a point at the front. The legs can be very long in some species, leading to the name "spider crab". The exoskeleton is covered with bristles to which the crab attaches algae and other items to act as camouflage.
Macrophthalmus is a genus of crabs which are widespread across the Indo-Pacific. It contains the following species :
The genus Cercartetus is a group of very small possums known as pygmy possums. Four species comprise this genus, which together with the genus Burramys make up the marsupial family Burramyidae.
Perisesarma is a genus of mangrove crabs in the family Sesarmidae predominantly found in the Indo-Pacific. Some 23 species are described as of late 2006, with two from West Africa: P. kammermani(De Man, 1883) and P. albertiRathbun, 1921. They are typically small, semiterrestrial crabs found on the forest floor at low tide. They eat nearly anything they can, and try to eat anything that does not threaten them — including pencils and other objects dropped on the forest floor. The last species of the genus described is P. samawatiGillikin and Schubart (2004). It can be found in East Africa along with P. guttatum, but its sister species is P. eumolpe from Malaysian mangroves
Calappidae is a family of crabs containing 16 genera, of which 7 are only known as fossils:
Ranina ranina, also known as the Huỳnh Đế crab, (red) frog crab or spanner crab, is a species of crab found throughout tropical and subtropical habitats. It is often fished for its meat, and is the only known species in its genus.
Achaeopsis spinulosa, the hotlips spider crab, is a species of crab in the family Inachidae, found only around the South African coast. It is the only species in the genus Achaeopsis.
Mursia is a genus of crabs in the family Calappidae, containing the following species:
Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which release thousands of planktonic larvae. This limits the dispersal abilities of freshwater crabs, so they tend to be endemic to small areas. As a result, a large proportion are threatened with extinction.
The Macrophthalmidae are a family of crabs, comprising these subfamilies and genera:
Calappa japonica, also known as the Japanese shame-faced crab, is a marine species of box crab in the family Calappidae. Originally found in the waters around Japan, more recently it has been found in Africa, the Red Sea and Western Australia.
Paraleptuca chlorophthalmus, is a common fiddler crab found in the mangroves of East Africa, from Somalia to South Africa, as well as Madagascar and Mauritius. Marsh fiddlers dig burrows in the muddy or sandy banks of salt marshes, which they use to protect themselves from predators, high tide and extreme temperatures. They feed by filtering detritus out of mud, and defend their burrows against other fiddler crabs. Paraleptuca chlorophthalmus is characterised by its red pereiopods and blue and black markings on its carapace.
Ocypode cursor, the tufted ghost crab, is a species of ghost crab found on sandy beaches along the coasts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Elamena is a genus of crab, containing the following species:
Dynomenidae is a family of crabs in the superfamily Dromioidea mostly found in Madagascar. There are nineteen genera in this family: five extant and fourteen known from fossils:
Hirsutodynomene is a genus of crabs in the family Dynomenidae. All species in this genus except the newest one belonged to the genus Dynomene. These two genera form the subfamilia Dynomeninae. The type species of this genus is: Dynomene spinosa(Rathbun, 1911).
References
- ↑ Peter Davie (2013). "Hymenosoma Desmarest, 1823". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ↑ Jessica Dawson; Charles L. Griffiths (2012). "Revision of the crown crabs, genus Hymenosoma (Crustacea : Hymenosomatidae), of South Africa". African Natural History . 8: 16–29.
- ↑ Peter R. Teske; Colin L. McLay; Jonathan Sandoval-Castillo; Isabelle Papadopoulos; Brent K. Newman; Charles L. Griffiths; Christopher D. McQuaid; Nigel P. Barker; Gaetan Borgonie; Luciano B. Beheregaray (2009). "Tri-locus sequence data reject a "Gondwanan origin hypothesis" for the African/South Pacific crab genus Hymenosoma" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 53: 23–33. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.031. PMID 19501181.
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