Emerita talpoida

{{Speciesbox

| image = FMIB 38523 Sandbug Southern shore of Long Island.jpeg

| genus = Emerita

| species = talpoida

| authority = (Say, 1817)

| synonyms = {{Species list

| Hippa talpoida | Say, 1817

}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Emerita talpoida, known generally as the Atlantic mole crab or Atlantic sand crab, is a species of mole crab in the family Hippidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Mexico along the shoreline.

File:Image from page 126 of "Introduction to zoology; a guide to the study of animals, for the use of secondary schools;" (1900) (14598329499).jpg

Range

The Atlantic mole crab inhabits the swash zone of sandy beaches from Cape Cod south to the gulf Coast of Mexico. It is one of seven New World Emerita species.

Ecology

Like all Emerita species, the Atlantic mole crab is a fossorial filter feeder. It requires moving water in order to feed, and it does so by burrowing itself backwards into the sand.{{Cite journal |last=Bowman, Dolan |first=Michael Lowell, Robert |date=1985 |title=The relationship of Emerita talpoida to beach characteristics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4297036 |journal=Journal of Coastal Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=151–163|jstor=4297036 }} It uses its exposed feathery antennae to filter algae, detritus, and plankton.{{cite book |author=Kenneth Henry Mann |year=2000 |title=Ecology of Coastal Waters, with Implications for Management |series=Volume 8 of Studies in Ecology |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-0-86542-550-7 |chapter=Sandy beaches |pages=218–236 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4lWl-0Rsi5MC&pg=PA228}}{{Cite web |author=Padre Island National Seashore |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |title=Atlantic Sand Crab |url=https://www.nps.gov/pais/learn/nature/mole_crab.htm |access-date=2022-12-04 |language=en}}

The Atlantic mole crab is an important food source for the Atlantic ghost crab, the blue crab, and certain species of fish in the swash zone.{{cite journal|last1=Tewfik|first1=Alexander |last2=Bell|first2=Susan S.|last3=McCann|first3=Kevin S. |last4=Morrow|first4=Kristina |title=Predator diet and trophic position modified with altered habitat morphology |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2016|volume=11|issue=1|page=e0147759 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0147759|pmid=26824766 |pmc=4732677 |doi-access=free}} Shorebirds, notably sanderlings, have also been observed foraging for sand crabs.{{cite journal|last1=Peterson|first1=Charles H.|last2=Bishop|first2=Melanie J.|last3=Johnson|first3=Galen A. |last4=D'Anna|first4=Linda M.|last5=Manning|first5=Lisa M.|title=Exploiting beach filling as an unaffordable experiment: Benthic intertidal impacts propagating upwards to shorebirds |journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |date=2006|volume=338|issue=2|pages=205–221|doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2006.06.021|doi-access=free}} The combination of its burrowing feeding strategy and its camouflaged carapace assist the Atlantic mole crab in evading predation.

Because they spend much of their life in the swash zone, they can serve as a bioindicator for the effects of large-scale engineering works.

Taxonomy

Emerita talpoida was originally described as Hippa talpoida in 1817.{{Cite journal |last=Say |first=T. |year=1817 |title=An account of the Crustacea of the United States (continued) |journal=Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=155–169 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79416 }} In 1879 a review of the family reassigned multiple species, including H. talpoida, from the genus Hippa to the genus Emerita. The two are now considered sister genera.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite journal |last1=Tam |first1=Yan K. |last2=Kornfield |first2=Irv |last3=Haye |first3=Pilar A. |title=Molecular phylogenetics of mole crabs (Hippidae: Emerita) |journal=Journal of Crustacean Biology |date=2002 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=903–915 |doi=10.1163/20021975-99990302 |doi-access=free |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1076&context=sms_facpub}}

{{cite journal |last1=Mantelatto |first1=Fernando L. |last2=Paixão |first2=Juliana M. |last3=Robles |first3=Rafael |last4=Teles |first4=Jeniffer N. |last5=Balbino |first5=Felipe C. |title=Evidence using morphology, molecules, and biogeography clarifies the taxonomic status of mole crabs of the genus Emerita Scopoli, 1777 (Anomura, Hippidae) and reveals a new species from the western Atlantic |journal=ZooKeys |date=2023 |issue=1161 |pages=169–202 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1161.99432 |pmid=37234742 |pmc=10206660 |doi-access=free }}

{{ITIS | title=Emerita talpoida | id=98134 | access-date=2019-09-25 }}

{{GBIF | title=Emerita talpoida | id=2225699 | access-date=2019-09-25 }}

{{Cite web| title=Emerita talpoida species Information

| url=https://bugguide.net/node/view/603686

| website=BugGuide.net

| access-date=2019-09-25

}}

{{Cite web| title= Atlantic Sand Crab Observations

| url=https://inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&subview=map&taxon_id=47182

| website=inaturalist.org

| access-date=2022-06-16

}}