Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Keywords
Carapace; eastern Pacific Ocean; hair; morphology; neotropics; semi-terrestrial
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Zootaxa
Volume
5853
Issue
1
First Page
95
Last Page
107
Abstract
A new species of fiddler crab, Leptuca capillosa sp. nov., is described based on two preserved specimens from the U.S. National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) as the holotype and paratype. In addition, specimens (N = 46) collected at eight locations along the Pacific cost of Ecuador were used for an anatomical description and a biometric study. Biometric relationships among major anatomical features are described by linear-regression algorithms with coefficients of correlation and determination. From a previously published DNA analysis of the new species, L. capillosa sp. nov. is related to other Leptuca species in the Gelasiminae subfamily of ocypodid crabs. The new species shares an evolutionary clade with Leptuca festae (Nobili, 1902), L. limicola (Crane, 1941) and L. oerstedi (Rathbun 1904). Currently, 14 species of fiddler crabs from the genus Leptuca inhabit various intertidal niches along the coast of Ecuador. A diagnostic morphological characteristic distinguishing L. capillosa sp. nov. from the others is the bilateral occurrence of oval patches of pile/pubescence on the anterior dorsolateral hepatic surface of the carapace. The new species inhabits sparsely vegetated, intertidal mud flats washed with brackish (4–9 ‰) estuary water. So far, L. capillosa sp. nov. has been collected only in Ecuador between the Rio Mataje and the Golfo de Guayaquil.
Department
Department of Biology
Original Publication Date
7-2026
Object Description
1 PDF File
DOI of published version
10.11646/zootaxa.5853.1.6
Repository
UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Copyright
©2026 Magnolia Press
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Thurman, Carl and Capparelli, Mariana, "Description of Leptuca capillosa sp. nov., A New Fiddler Crab Species (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) from the Continental Coast of Ecuador" (2026). Faculty Publications. 6961.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/6961
Comments
First published in Zootaxa, v5853 n1 published by Magnolia Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5853.1.6