Warm-temperate-lineage
Guides
Minuca longisignalis
longwave gulf fiddler, Gulf Marsh Fiddler Crab
Minuca longisignalis, formerly Uca longisignalis, is a fiddler crab endemic to Gulf of Mexico salt marshes. It exhibits striking reproductive seasonality characteristic of warm-temperate lineages, with ovigerous females appearing no earlier than April and peak ovigery in June. The species constructs burrows in vegetated marsh areas, with burrow density and depth varying by elevation and distance from shoreline. It co-occurs with congeners such as Uca spinicarpa, though shows substrate preferences for different clay compositions.