About Minuca minax (Le Conte, 1855)
Like other fiddler crabs, male Minuca minax have one significantly larger claw, while females have two equal, smaller claws. The red joints of its claws give this species its common name, red-jointed fiddler crab. Minuca minax breeds for two weeks during summer in small round burrows dug by males. Larvae cannot survive in the lower-salinity brackish water that adults prefer, and adults do not travel to the sea to release larvae. Instead, larvae use ebb tides to move to higher-salinity environments to develop, before returning as adults.
