Uca perplexa

Uca perplexa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Infraorder:	Brachyura
Family:	Ocypodidae
Genus:	Uca
Species:	U. perplexa
Binomial name
Uca perplexa (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) [1]
Synonyms
Gelasimus perplexus H. Milne-Edwards, 1837 Uca annulipes var. albimana H. Milne-Edwards, 1852 Uca lactea perplexa (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837)

Uca 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]

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.^[4]

Uca perplexa is usually found on sandy substrates near river mouths or on sheltered beaches in the mid-intertidal zone, usually near mangroves.^[5]

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

References

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.
2. "Species Uca perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1852)". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. October 9, 2008.
3. "Uca perplexa". Crabs of Japan. Marine Species Identification Portal.
4. 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.
5. http://queenslandcoast.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/guide-to-fiddler-crabs-of-queensland.html