Claw coloration in the fiddler crab <i>Leptuca uruguayensis</i> has no correlation with male quality.

ABSTRACT: Sexual selection is thought to play a major role in the evolution of color due to the correlation between a signaler's physiological state and the displayed color. As such, researchers often investigate how color correlates to the quality of the signaler. However, research on the relationship between color and individual quality is often taxonomically limited and researchers typically investigate how color phenotypes relate to one index of quality, such as a linear measure of body size. Here, we investigated the relationship among body size, claw size, claw muscle mass, lipid content, and the color of the claw in male fiddler crabs (Leptuca uruguayensis) which wield an exaggerated claw that varies in color from brown to red. We hypothesized that if the color was correlated to one or

SUBMITTER: Graham ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11884406 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature