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fiddler crab

 
Dictionary: fiddler crab
 
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n.

Any of various burrowing crabs of the genus Uca of coastal areas, the male of which has a greatly enlarged anterior claw.


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: fiddler crab
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Any of about 65 species of decapods (genus Uca) whose males hold one claw, always much larger than the other, somewhat like a violin. Both claws of the female are relatively small. Fiddler crabs often live in large numbers on beaches in temperate to tropical regions of the world. They inhabit water-covered burrows up to about 1 ft (30 cm) deep and feed on algae and other organic matter. Common North American species (e.g., marsh fiddler, china-back fiddler) live all along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Brightly coloured, they range in body size from about 1 to 1.2 in. (2.5 to 3 cm).

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Columbia Encyclopedia: fiddler crab
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fiddler crab, common name for small, amphibious crabs belonging to the genus Uca. They are characterized by a rectangular carapace (shell) and a narrow abdomen, which is flexed under the body. They are called fiddler crabs because the males have one enormous claw, held in front of the body like a fiddle. This claw often contrasts in color with the rest of the body, and is used by the male at certain times of the year to attract females in a complicated courtship display procedure, characteristically different in each species of Uca. The claw also functions to warn off intruders and to establish territories. The female Uca has two small claws on the first appendages. Some species of fiddler crabs live on sandy beaches that are somewhat protected from extreme wave action. Others live in muddy marshes and estuaries. The Uca species living on sandy beaches, such as the common Atlantic fiddler, U. pugilator, make burrows about 1 ft (30 cm) deep, just below the high tide line. The sand is carried to the surface by specialized legs of the crab, and pushed away from the entrance. Fiddler crabs are poor swimmers and rarely enter the water during their adult lives. During the spring and summer, the fiddlers remain in their burrows only during high tide periods. The entrances of the burrows are covered with sand, and the burrows contain a bubble of air, which the crabs use for respiration. When the tide ebbs, the fiddlers emerge and scurry about, collecting food in the drift lines left by the ebbing water. Both claws of the female and the smaller claw of the male are used to scoop up sand and pass the grains to the mouthparts. Certain specialized appendages (the first and second maxillipeds) have spoon-shaped setae, used to scour organic matter from the sand grains and pass it to the mouth. The sand grains are then rejected in the form of small sand balls. After mating, the female fiddler crab carries the fertilized eggs under her flexed abdomen. Certain cyclic changes occur in Uca (as well as in some other crustaceans), such as changes in pigmentation. During the day the crabs are dark; at night they are pale. Fiddler crabs are classified in the phylum Arthropoda, subphylum Crustacea, order Decapoda.

 
Notes on Poetry: Fiddler Crab
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Contents:

Author Biography
Poem Summary
Themes
Style
Historical Context
Critical Overview
Criticism
Sources
Further Reading


Josephine Jacobsen
1950

"Fiddler Crab" was, according to the chronological sections in Josephine Jacobsen's collection of poetry In the Crevice of Time: New and Collected Poems (1995), written between 1950 and 1965. Unfortunately, no exact date is available for the poem's original publication. In fact, since this collection is subtitled New and Collected Poems, the poem may have been written between 1950 and 1965 but not published before its inclusion in this collection.

"Fiddler Crab" is a good example of a primary theme that runs through Jacobsen's entire body of work. In this poem, Jacobsen explores the connectivity between all living things and God through her observation of a fiddler crab on the beach. This poem conveys religious principles through a narrative storyline. Her decision to deliver her beliefs in this fashion is intentional and, in fact, makes the poem timeless.

Regardless of when it was written or published, "Fiddler Crab" resonates with Jacobsen's religious exploration and understanding. Where other poems may reflect on society, Jacobsen's poetry reflects upon God and the exploration of the human soul. With this at the helm of Jacobsen's thought, her poetry is written without a social reference. Her work is far too personal to be tied to anything but her own search for truth and understanding. Jacobsen was a self-proclaimed devout Catholic, and although her work is rich spiritually, it is rarely preachy. Her message is warm, clever, and devout. With her massive, far-reaching collection of work, Jacobsen is heralded as one of the finest, most respectable poets of the twentieth century.

 
Wikipedia: Fiddler crab
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Fiddler crab
Uca pugnax
Uca pugnax
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Ocypodidae
Genus: Uca
Leach, 1814
Species

ca. 97, see text
"Uca" redirects here. For other use, see UCA.

A fiddler crab, sometimes known as a calling crab, may be any of approximately 97 species of semi-terrestrial marine crabs within the genus Uca [1]. Belonging to the family Ocypodidae, fiddler crabs are most closely related to the ghost crabs of the genus Ocypode. This crustacean is named for the fiddle-shaped large claw present on males. This entire group is composed of small crabs – the largest being slightly over two inches across. Fiddler crabs are found along sea beaches and brackish inter-tidal mud flats, lagoons and swamps.

Like all crabs, fiddler crabs shed their shells as they grow. If they have lost legs or claws during their present growth cycle a new one will be present when they molt. If the large fiddle claw is lost, males will develop one on the opposite side after their next molt. Newly molted crabs are very vulnerable due to their soft shells. They are reclusive and hide until the new shell hardens.

Contents

Ecology

Found in mangroves, salt marshes, and on sandy or muddy beaches of West Africa, the Western Atlantic, Eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific, fiddler crabs are easily recognized by their distinctively asymmetric claws.

Male lemon-yellow clawed fiddler crab (Uca perplexa), waving

Fiddler crabs communicate by a sequence of waves and gestures;[2] males have an oversized claw or cheliped; used in clashes of ritualised combat of courtship over a female and signal their intentions between conspecifics. The movement of the smaller claw from ground to mouth during feeding underlines the crabs' common name; it seems that animal plays the larger claw somewhat like a fiddle.

The crab's smaller claw picks up a chunk of sediment from the ground and brings it to the mouth, where its contents are sifted through (making the crab a detritivore). After anything edible is salvaged, be it algae, microbes, fungus, or other decaying detritus, the sediment is replaced in the form of a little ball. The presence of these sediment balls near the entrance to a burrow is a good indication of its occupation. Some experts believe that the feeding habits of fiddler crabs play a vital role in the preservation of wetland environments; by sifting through the sands, they aerate the substrate and prevent anaerobic conditions.

Lifecycle

Fiddler crabs live rather brief lives of no more than two years (up to three years in captivity). During courtship, the males wave their oversized claws high in the air and tap them on the ground in an effort to attract females. Fights between males will also occur, which are presumably meant to impress the females; if a male loses his larger claw, the smaller one will begin to grow larger and the lost claw will regenerate into a new (small) claw. For at least some species of fiddler crabs, however, the small claw remains small, while the larger claw regenerates over a period of several molts, being about half its former size after the first molt. The female fiddler carries her eggs in a mass on the underside of her body. She remains in her burrow during a two week gestation period, after which she ventures out to release her eggs into the receding tide. The larvae remain planktonic for a further two weeks.

Fiddler crabs such as Uca lactea mjoebergi have been shown to bluff in regards to their fighting ability. Upon regrowing a lost claw, a crab will occasionally regrow a weaker claw that nevertheless intimidates crabs with smaller but stronger claws.[3][4] This is an example of dishonest signalling..

Subgenera and species

  • Australuca
  • Uca bellator
  • Uca elegans
  • Uca hirsutimanus
  • Uca longidigitum
  • Uca polita
  • Uca seismella
  • Uca signata
  • Gelasimus
  • Uca borealis
  • Uca dampieri
  • Uca formosensis
  • Uca hesperiae
  • Uca neocultrimana
  • Uca tetragonon
  • Uca vocans
  • Uca vomeris
  • Leptuca
  • Uca annulipes
  • Uca argillicola
  • Uca batuenta
  • Uca beebei
  • Uca bengali
  • Uca coloradensis
  • Uca crenulata
  • Uca cumulanta
  • Uca deichamnni
  • Uca dorotheae
  • Uca festae
  • Uca helleri
  • Uca inaequalis
  • Uca lactea
  • Uca latimanus
  • Uca leptochela
  • Uca leptodactyla
  • Uca limicola
  • Uca mjoebergi
  • Uca musica
  • Uca oerstedi
  • Uca panamensis
  • Uca perplexa
  • Uca saltitanta
  • Uca speciosa
  • Uca spinicarpa
  • Uca stenodactylus
  • Uca tallanica
  • Uca tenuipedis
  • Uca terpsichores
  • Uca tomentosa
  • Uca triangularis
  • Minuca
  • Uca brevifrons
  • Uca burgersi
  • Uca ecuadoriensis
  • Uca galapagensis
  • Uca herradurensis
  • Uca longisignalis
  • Uca marguerita
  • Uca minax - red-jointed fiddler
  • Uca mordax
  • Uca panacea
  • Uca pugilator - sand fiddler
  • Uca pugnax - mud fiddler
  • Uca pygmaea
  • Uca rapax
  • Uca subcylindrica
  • Uca thayeri
  • Uca umbratila
  • Uca victoriana
  • Uca virens
  • Uca vocator
  • Uca zacae
  • Paraleptuca
  • Uca chlorophthalmus
  • Uca crassipes
  • Uca inversa
  • Uca sindensis
  • Tubuca
  • Uca acuta
  • Uca arcuata
  • Uca capricornis
  • Uca coarctata
  • Uca demani
  • Uca dussumieri
  • Uca flammula
  • Uca forcipata
  • Uca paradussumieri
  • Uca rhizophorae
  • Uca rosea
  • Uca typhoni'
  • Uca uvillei
  • Uca
  • Uca heteropleura
  • Uca insignis
  • Uca intermedia
  • Uca major
  • Uca maracoani
  • Uca monolifera
  • Uca ornata
  • Uca princeps
  • Uca stylifera
  • Uca tangeri

Captivity

Fiddler crabs are occasionally kept as pets [5].

The fiddler crabs sold in pet stores generally come from brackish water lagoons. Because they live in lower salinity water, pet stores may call them fresh-water crabs, but they cannot survive indefinitely in fresh water. Fiddler crabs should not be kept in fresh water more than a few days. Individual crabs should be perky and active and have all their claws and legs. Fiddler crabs can also be found in coastal areas in mud and sand inlet beaches and marshy areas at low tide.

A ten gallon aquarium will house four medium size (1-2 inch) fiddler crabs with sufficient space to prevent aggression. Prepare a sloping sand area for the crabs to bury themselves. Brackish water fish can be added in larger aquariums. Fish such as platies, mollies, guppies and swordtails as well as ghost shrimp will adapt to moderate salinity.

Carbonate Hardness (KH) and pH: Fiddler crabs do well with a pH or acidity of 8.0-8.3. Carbonate Hardness (KH) should optimally be between 150-350 ppm but crabs and some fish will tolerate higher levels.

Substrate: Fiddler crabs do not do well if they are deprived access to dry beach sand or dry to moist rock surfaces.

Temperature: Fiddler crabs do well in a range of temperatures between 75-85 F (24-29 C). If fish are kept in the tank the temperature may need to be regulated more precisely.

Gallery

Fiddler crab burrows among mangrove roots

Fiddler crabs forage for food in Atlantic salt marsh

Sand fiddler crab (Uca pugilator)

Fiddler crab at Gulf Coast of Louisiana

Fiddler crab as compared to a human hand

Uca lactea male

Uca lactea female (left) and male (right)

Uca tangeri

See also

References

  1. ^ Rosenberg, M. S. (2001). "The Systematics and Taxonomy of Fiddler Crabs: A Phylogeny of the Genus Uca" (PDF). Journal of Crustacean Biology 21 (3): 839–869. doi:10.1651/0278-0372(2001)021[0839:TSATOF]2.0.CO;2. http://lsweb.la.asu.edu/rosenberg/Pubs/JCrustBiol2001v21p839.pdf. 
  2. ^ How, M.J., Hemmi, J.M, Zeil, J. and Peters, R. "Claw waving display changes with receiver distance in fiddler crabs, Uca perplexa." Animal Behaviour. Vol. 75, No. 3, 1015-1022. 2008. Accessed 2009-05-27.
  3. ^ "Fiddler crabs reveal honesty is not always the best policy". British Ecological Society. 2008-11-13. http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/news/fiddler-crabs-reveal-honesty-is-not-always-the-best-policy/. Retrieved on 2008-11-19. 
  4. ^ Lailvaux, Simon P; Leeann T. Reaney, Patricia R. Y. Backwell (2008-11-11). "Regenerated claws dishonestly signal performance and fighting ability in the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi.". Functional Ecology (British Ecological Society). ISSN 1365-2435. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121511634/HTMLSTART. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. 
  5. ^ Lianne McLeod. "How to Set Up a Tank for Fiddler Crabs". http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/rarespecies/a/fiddlercrabs.htm. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Notes on Poetry. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fiddler crab".  Read more

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