Leptuca panacea | |
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Gulf sand fiddler crab | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Family: | Ocypodidae |
Subfamily: | Gelasiminae |
Tribe: | Minucini |
Genus: | Leptuca |
Species: | L. panacea
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Binomial name | |
Leptuca panacea (Novak and Salmon, 1974)
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Leptuca panacea, commonly known as the Gulf sand fiddler crab or the Panacea sand fiddler, is a species of fiddler crab native to coastal habitats along the Gulf of Mexico from northwestern Florida to Mexico. [1]
This species is the sister species of the Atlantic sand fiddler crab, L. pugilator. [2] The ranges of the two species overlap in northwestern Florida, where they are known to hybridize. [3]
Before 2016, the species was known as Uca panacea. In 2016, the subgenus Leptuca was promoted to the genus level. [2] [4] [5]
The large claw of the male is smooth, lacking any tuberculate ridges. [3] The inner margin of the carapace is bright orange to orangish-red.
The species lives in salt marshes or open sand flats on sand or sandy-mud substrata. [3]