[2] It prefers areas of lower salinity than other fiddler crabs,[3] and can be found in great numbers along the banks of tidal streams, even at distances greater than 50 km (31 mi) from the sea.

The joints on the claws are red, a noticeable feature that is the origin of the common name "red‐jointed fiddler crab".

Minuca minax breed for two weeks in the summer in a small round burrow dug by the male.

The larvae are unable to survive in the lower-salinity brackish water preferred by adults, and the adults do not travel to the sea to release the larvae.

As such, the larvae use ebb tides to travel to higher-salinity environments to develop before returning as adults.