Afruca

{{Speciesbox

| 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 = {{cite journal |journal=Raffles Bulletin of Zoology |year=2016 |volume=64 |pages=139–175 |title=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 |author=Shih, Hsi Te |author2=Ng, Peter K.L. |author3=Davie, Peter J.F. |author4=Schubart, Christoph D. |author5=Türkay, Michael |author6=Naderloo, Reza |author7=Jones, Diana|url=http://ir.lib.nchu.edu.tw/bitstream/11455/94724/1/Shih%262016_Ocypodidae_revision_s.pdf }}

}}

File:Afruca tangeri Fiddler Crab Angola.jpg]]

File:Afruca Crabs in Morocco.jpg]]

Afruca is a genus of fiddler crabs belonging to the family Ocypodidae.{{GBIF |title=Afruca Crane, 1975 |id=4646705 |access-date=7 May 2021}} 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 {{convert|50|mm}} wide,{{cite book |author=Richard G. Hartnoll |year=1988 |chapter=Evolution, systematics, and geographical distribution |pages=6–54 |editor1=Warren W. Burggren |editor2=Brian Robert McMahon |title=Biology of the Land Crabs |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-30690-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RR09AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42}} and up to {{convert|25|mm|1|abbr=on}} 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.{{cite book |author1=Craig Emms |author2=Linda Barnett |author3=Richard Human |year=2006 |title=The Gambia |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |edition=2nd |isbn=978-1-84162-137-1 |chapter=Natural history |pages=25–46 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6-H1OysekcC&pg=PA41}}

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,{{cite journal |journal=Raffles Bulletin of Zoology |year=2016 |volume=64 |pages=139–175 |title=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 |author=Shih, Hsi Te |author2=Ng, Peter K.L. |author3=Davie, Peter J.F. |author4=Schubart, Christoph D. |author5=Türkay, Michael |author6=Naderloo, Reza |author7=Jones, Diana|url=http://ir.lib.nchu.edu.tw/bitstream/11455/94724/1/Shih%262016_Ocypodidae_revision_s.pdf }} 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.{{cite book |author=R. W. Ingle |year=1997 |title=Crayfishes, Lobsters, and Crabs of Europe: an Illustrated Guide to Common and Traded Species |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-412-71060-5 |chapter=True crabs (Brachyura) |pages=115–176 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-qVGbTAOiEC&pg=PA164}} The common name preferred by the Food and Agriculture Organization is West African fiddler crab ({{langx|fr|gélasime africain}}; {{langx|pt|boca-cava-terra}}).{{cite book |author1=Domingo Lloris |author2=Jaime Rucabado |year=1998 |title=Guide d'Identification des Ressources Marines Vivantes du Maroc |series=Guide FAO d'identification des espèces pour les besoins de la pêche |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |isbn=978-92-5-204162-7 |chapter=Crustacés |pages=165–192 |language=French |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wdPpKMZiZGYC&pg=PA190}}