Austruca mjoebergi is a species of fiddler crab discovered by and named after the Swedish zoologist Eric Mjöberg (1882–1938), member of a Swedish scientific expedition to Australia in the early 1900s.
Austruca mjoebergi | |
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Austruca mjoebergi, banana fiddler crab, Australia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Family: | Ocypodidae |
Subfamily: | Gelasiminae |
Tribe: | Gelasimni |
Genus: | Austruca |
Species: | A. mjoebergi
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Binomial name | |
Austruca mjoebergi |
The crab is found along the north and northwest coast of Australia (approximately from Dampier to the Gulf of Carpentaria and on Papua New Guinea's northwest coast).[2]
Austruca mjoebergi was formerly in the genus Uca, but in 2016 it was placed in the genus Austruca, a former subgenus of Uca.[3][4][5]
Male Austruca mjoebergi rely heavily on their enlarged claw to signal dominance and fighting prowess. Crabs which lose their large claw will occasionally regenerate a lighter, cheaper claw (requiring less energy to produce). Research has shown that, while crabs with these 'cheap' claws are worse fighters than crabs with strong claws of a similar size, they are just as effective at intimidating other crabs based on claw size alone.[6][7]