Epilobocera sinuatifronsBosques de Puerto Rico: Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro. Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. July 2008. [Publication/Issue: P-030] Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 24 September 2013. is a freshwater crabPhysical and chemical factors affecting the upstream migration of amphidromous shrimp in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. D.A. Kikkert, T.A. Crowl, and A.P. Covich. Society for Freshwater Science. 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013. of the family Epiloboceridae. The species is an endemic species and widely distributed in streams of Puerto Rico and occurs also on Saint Croix (the U.S. Virgin Islands).On the Role of Omnivorous Freshwater Crabs in Neotropical Streams. A. P Covich. Society for Freshwater Science. NABStracts 2000 #7214. Retrieved 24 September 2013. The common name of this freshwater crab is "buruquena." An important aspect of this crab is its type of development; the buruquena undergoes direct development. This means that the crab does not produce larvae. Instead, it breeds in freshwater streams and releases small crabs, not larvae like freshwater shrimp.
Epilobocera sinuatifrons is one of the most abundant predatory freshwater decapods in the freshwater streams of Puerto Rico.Mayfly Predation by Juvenile Freshwater Crabs: Implications for Crab Habitat Selection. J. K. Henry, A. P. Covich, T. S. Bowden, and T. A. Crow. Society for Freshwater Science. NABStracts 2000 #446. Retrieved 24 September 2013. The juveniles are aquatic while the adults feed also on terrestrial resources on the forest floor adjacent to streams.
See also List of crustaceans of Puerto Rico
References