Orange
fiddler crab
Uca
vocans
Family Ocypodidae
updated
Dec 12
Where
seen? This tiny crab with a 'pimply' oversized pincer is
commonly seen on our natural undisturbed shores, usually on softer,
muddier areas more exposed to wave action than other fiddler crabs.
This includes the bottom of swimming lagoons, shores near large boulders.
Features: Body width 2-3cm. The
male fiddler crab's enlarged pincer has a bumpy outer face. The tips
of the pincers are flattened and sabre-like. The immobile lower finger
is orange or yellow and has a long groove on the outside. Body colours
and patterns vary: some greenish, others greyish. Their burrows can
be half a metre deep!
Sometimes mistaken for the Porcelain
fiddler crab (Uca annulipes). More on how
to tell apart the fiddler crabs commonly seen on our shores.
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Pincer
with long groove on the outside,
lower portion and flattened tips.
Pulau Hantu, May 09
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From the back.
Chek Jawa, Oct 04
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Female and male.
Pasir Ris, Jun 09
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Groove on the inside of the pincer.
Pulau Ubin, May 08
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Pincer colours may vary.
Chek Jawa, Feb 02
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Pulau Ubin, Feb 05
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Different coloured backs.
Pulau Ubin, May 08
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Females have two small pincers
Pulau Ubin, May 08
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Males
may be 'right' or 'left' handed.
Pulau Ubin, May 08
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Tussel over a female?
Chek Jawa, Mar 11
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Orange
fiddler crabs on Singapore shores
video clips of orange fiddler crabs on Singapore
shores
Links
References
- Ng, Peter
K. L. and Daniele Guinot and Peter J. F. Davie, 2008. Systema
Brachyurorum: Part 1. An annotated checklist of extant Brachyuran
crabs of the world. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement
No. 17, 31 Jan 2008. 286 pp. (Online
PDF on the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology website)
- Lim, S.,
P. Ng, L. Tan, & W. Y. Chin, 1994. Rhythm of the Sea: The Life
and Times of Labrador Beach. Division of Biology, School of
Science, Nanyang Technological University & Department of Zoology,
the National University of Singapore. 160 pp.
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