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Crustaceans of Zihuatanejo

SUBPHYLUM CRUSTACEA

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Crustaceans (Subphylum Crustacea)

-Typical Crustaceans (Superclass Multicrustacea)

-Malacostracans (Class Malacostraca)

-Decapods, Isopods, and Allies (Subclass Eumalacostraca)

-Decapods and Krill (Superorder Eucarida)

-Decapods (Order Decapoda)

-Crabs, Lobsters, Shrimps, and Allies (Suborder Pleocyemata)

-True Crabs (Infraorder Brachyura)​

-Eubrachyuran Crabs (Zoosection Eubrachyura)

-Thoracotrematan Crabs (Zoosubsection Thoracotremata)

-Land, Shore, and Marsh Crabs (Superfamily Grapsoidea)

-​Land Crabs (Family Gecarcinidae)

-Broad-fronted and Indo-west Pacific Fiddler Crabs (Subfamily Gelasiminae)

-American Broad-front Fiddler Crabs (Tribe Minucini)


The American Broad-front Fiddler Crab typically inhabits salt marshes, mudflats, and other coastal areas. Its diet consists of small organisms such as worms and algae. Its body is characterized by a bright orange coloration with a wide front claw, which can reach up to three times the size of the crab's body.

American Broad-front Fiddler

Minucini (Tribe)

Diet

  • Omnivorous deposit feeder, consuming microscopic algae, bacteria, diatoms, fungi, decaying plant material, and organic detritus found in mud and sand.

  • Picks up sediment with its small feeding claw, sorting out edible organic matter before discarding the cleaned sediment as small pellets.

  • Helps recycle nutrients and aerate intertidal sediments.

Range

  • Native to the tropical eastern Pacific, occurring from the Gulf of California south along the Pacific coast of Mexico through Central America.

  • Widespread along the Pacific coast of Mexico, including Guerrero and the Zihuatanejo region.

Habitat

  • Inhabits mangrove forests, estuaries, tidal mudflats, salt marshes, and sheltered coastal lagoons.

  • Lives in burrows excavated in soft mud or sand within the intertidal zone.

  • Burrows provide protection from predators, high temperatures, and desiccation, and are also used during moulting and reproduction.

Size

  • Carapace width: 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1.0 in)

  • Overall leg span: Up to 6 cm (2.4 in)

  • Weight: Typically 2–10 g


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