| Uca pugnax | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Superfamily: | Ocypodoidea |
| Family: | Ocypodidae |
| Genus: | Uca |
| Species: | U. pugnax |
| Binomial name | |
| Uca pugnax (S. I. Smith, 1870) [1] |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Gelasimus pugnax S. I. Smith, 1870 |
|
The Atlantic marsh fiddler crab, Uca pugnax, is a common fiddler crab of the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. Marsh fiddlers dig burrows in the muddy or sandy banks of salt marshes, which they use to protect themselves from predators, high tide, and extreme temperatures, They feed by filtering detritus out of mud, and defend their burrows against other fiddler crabs.