Afruca
Genus of crab
title: "Afruca" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ocypodoidea", "crabs-of-the-atlantic-ocean", "taxa-described-in-1975"] description: "Genus of crab" topic_path: "general/ocypodoidea" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afruca" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of crab ::
| image = West African fiddler crab (Uca tangeri) male.jpg | image_caption = male, Gambia | genus = Afruca | parent_authority = Crane, 1975 | species = tangeri | authority = (Eydoux, 1835) | synonyms =
- Uca tangeri
- Gelasimus cimatodus Rochebrune, 1833
- Gelasimus tangeri Eydoux, 1835
- Gelasimus platydactylus H. Milne-Edwards, 1837
- Gelasimus perlatus Herklots, 1851
- Gonoplax speciosus Monod, 1933 [nomen nudum]
| synonyms_ref =
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Afruca_tangeri_Fiddler_Crab_Angola.jpg" caption="Afruca tangeri in [[Angola"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Afruca_Crabs_in_Morocco.jpg" caption="two male Afruca tangeri fighting over a burrow in [[Morocco" alt="two male Afruca tangeri crabs"] ::
Afruca is a genus of fiddler crabs belonging to the family Ocypodidae. Afruca tangeri, the only species in this genus, lives along the Atlantic coasts of western Africa and southwestern Europe.
Description
Afruca tangeri is one of the largest species of fiddler crab, with a carapace up to 50 mm wide, and up to 25 mm long. The males have one claw much larger than the other, which they use for communication. 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.
Distribution
The range of Afruca tangeri extends from southern Portugal southwards to Angola;. It is the only fiddler crab species on the Eastern Atlantic coast and the most abundant crab in The Gambia.
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, 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. The common name preferred by the Food and Agriculture Organization is West African fiddler crab (; ).
References
References
- Shih, Hsi Te. (2016). "Systematics of the family Ocypodidae Rafinesque, 1815 (Crustacea: Brachyura), Based on phylogenetic relationships, With a reorganization of subfamily rankings and a review of the taxonomic status of Uca Leach, 1814, Sensu lato and its subgenera". [[Raffles Bulletin of Zoology]].
- "''Afruca'' Crane, 1975".
- Richard G. Hartnoll. (1988). "Biology of the Land Crabs". [[Cambridge University Press]].
- (2006). "The Gambia". [[Bradt Travel Guides]].
- R. W. Ingle. (1997). "Crayfishes, Lobsters, and Crabs of Europe: an Illustrated Guide to Common and Traded Species". [[Springer Science+Business Media.
- (1998). "Guide d'Identification des Ressources Marines Vivantes du Maroc". [[Food and Agriculture Organization]].
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