Uca pugnax
Encyclopedia
The Atlantic marsh fiddler crab, Uca pugnax, is a common fiddler crab
of the Mid-Atlantic
and northeastern United States
. Marsh fiddlers dig burrows in the muddy or sandy banks of salt marshes, which they use to protect themselves from predators, high tide, and extreme temperatures, They feed by filtering detritus out of mud, and defend their burrows against other fiddler crabs.
Fiddler crab
A fiddler crab, sometimes known as a calling crab, may be any of approximately 100 species of semi-terrestrial marine crabs which make up the genus Uca. As members of the family Ocypodidae, fiddler crabs are most closely related to the ghost crabs of the genus Ocypode. This entire group is composed...
of the Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
and northeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Marsh fiddlers dig burrows in the muddy or sandy banks of salt marshes, which they use to protect themselves from predators, high tide, and extreme temperatures, They feed by filtering detritus out of mud, and defend their burrows against other fiddler crabs.