Fiddler Crab
Coastal Habitats
Fiddler Crab
Uca longisignalis
Fiddler Crabs are the most common crab in a salt marsh. These crabs are seen year-round in Texas salt marshes and are always moving sideways! The males have one oversized claw. When the male eats with its smaller claw, some say it resembles a bow moving across a fiddle, hence the name.
Fiddler crabs are also referred to as the calling crab and the winkerkrabbe (German for "waving crab"). The Uca longisignalis, specifically, is commonly referred to as the Longwave Gulf Fiddler or the Gulf Marsh Fiddler Crab.
In Spanish, the Fiddler Crab is called a cangrejo violinista, which literally translates to Violinist Crab.
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