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Afruca
Genus of crab From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Afruca is a genus of fiddler crabs belonging to the family Ocypodidae.[2] Afruca tangeri, the only species in this genus, lives along the Atlantic coasts of western Africa and southwestern Europe.[3]
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Description
Afruca tangeri is one of the largest species of fiddler crab, with a carapace up to 50 millimetres (2.0 in) wide,[4] and up to 25 mm (1.0 in) long.[5] The males have one claw much larger than the other, which they use for communication.[6] Body colouration is fairly dull for a fiddler crab, but individuals are a variety of colours from dull shades of brown, to bright orange, red or purple.
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Distribution
The range of Afruca tangeri extends from southern Portugal southwards to Angola;.[5] It is the only fiddler crab species on the Eastern Atlantic coast and the most abundant crab in The Gambia.[6]
Taxonomy
Afruca tangeri was first described by Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux in 1835 as Gelasimus tangeri, but for many years it was part of the genus Uca, which then contained all the fiddler crabs worldwide. Fiddler crabs, and all crabs in the family Ocipodidae have recently undergone a major taxonomic revision using new molecular phylogenetic evidence,[1] which divided the fiddler crabs into 13 new genera. Therefore, the West African fiddler crab now forms the only species in the new genus, Afruca. The specific epithet tangeri refers to the Gulf of Tangier, Morocco, the species' type locality.[5] The common name preferred by the Food and Agriculture Organization is West African fiddler crab (French: gélasime africain; Portuguese: boca-cava-terra).[7]
See also
References
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