Mangrove crab outruns its namesake, expanding its range 200 miles north

Mangrove crab outruns its namesake, expanding its range 200 miles north

A crab named for mangrove forests is leaving them behind. New research from William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS shows that the Atlantic mangrove fiddler crab (Leptuca thayeri) is settling into temperate salt marshes along the southeastern U.S. coast. Published in the Journal of Crustacean Biology, the study documents the species as far north as Beaufort, South Carolina, almost 200 miles north of its traditional range in Florida.