Afruca Crane, 1975

Shih, Hsi-Te, Ng, Peter K. L., Davie, Peter J. F., Schubart, Christoph D., Türkay, Michael, Naderloo, Reza, Jones, Diana & Liu, Min-Yun, 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 64, pp. 139-175 : 147-149

Afruca Crane, 1975 , status nov.

( Fig. 6A, B )

Uca (Afruca) Crane, 1975: 116 . Type species: Gelasimus tangeri Eydoux, 1835 , by original designation. Gender feminine.

Diagnosis. Large-sized (carapace width about 35 mm in adults); dorsal surface carapace mostly covered with prominent tubercles, without posterolateral striae; front broad; cornea round; eyestalks slender; orbital floor with a spinous tubercle near inner corner; spoon-tipped setae of second maxilliped with proximal spine opposing these setae; adult male major cheliped extremely large; individuals right- or left-handed, with deep fingers, pollex with ventral carina, outer surface of major manus with large tubercles; both chelipeds small in female; pleonal locking mechanism absent. Confined to East Atlantic coasts.

Species included:

Afruca tangeri ( Eydoux, 1835) .

= Gelasimus perlatus Herklots, 1851

= Gelasimus cimatodus Rochebrune, 1883

= Uca tangeri var. platydactylus Monod, 1927 (pre-occupied name)

= + Uca tangeri var. matandensis Monod, 1928

Remarks. Crane (1975) established the subgenus Afruca for the BF Uca tangeri , from the eastern Atlantic Ocean ( Fig. 4 ), but later several authors treated this species and the American NF taxa under the subgenus Uca ( Levinton et al., 1996; Sturmbauer et al., 1996; Rosenberg, 2001; Beinlich & von Hagen, 2006; Ng et al., 2008). Spivak & Cuesta (2009) suggested Afruca is valid based on larval data and should be considered as a distinct genus. The validity of the genus Afruca is supported in this study ( Fig. 2 ), with a close relationship to Uca and Ocypode .

Figures

Fig. 6. Photographs of some species of the genera Afruca and Uca s. str. A, B, A. tangeri (Spain); C, U. heteropleura (Panama); D, U. insignis (El Salvador); E, U. major (Bahamas); F, U. maracoani (Brazil); G, U. princeps (Peru); H, U. stylifera (Panama).

Fig. 4. The distribution of 11 genera of fiddler crabs, mainly based on Crane (1975) and the website (http://www.fiddlercrab.info/index. html; Rosenberg, 2014).

Fig. 2. A Bayesian inference (BI) tree of the family Ocypodidae and outgroups, based on the combined 28S, 16S and COI markers. The solid circle at the node means it is strongly supported by both BI (≥ 90) and ML (≥ 70); and the open circle means only one method is strongly supported. Name of species or genus quoted means it is suggested as a synonym in this study.