Review of the mudflat varunid crab genus Metaplax (Crustacea, Brachyura, Varunidae) from East Asia and northern Vietnam

Intertidal mudflat crabs of the genus Metaplax H. Milne Edwards, 1852 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Varunidae) from China, Taiwan, and northern Vietnam are taxonomically revised by morphological and molecular evidence. These crabs show sexual dimorphism and morphological variation of a considerable range i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ZooKeys 2019-10, Vol.877 (3), p.1-29
Main Authors: Shih, Hsi-Te, Hsu, Jhih-Wei, Wong, Kingsley J.H, Ng, Ngan Kee
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asia
Brachyura
China Seas
Crustacea
Crustaceans
Decapoda
Geographical distribution
Mitochondria
Morphology
Mud flats
Sexual dimorphism
Shores
Taiwan
Taxonomy
Varunidae
Vietnam
Zoological research
Zoology
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Summary:Intertidal mudflat crabs of the genus Metaplax H. Milne Edwards, 1852 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Varunidae) from China, Taiwan, and northern Vietnam are taxonomically revised by morphological and molecular evidence. These crabs show sexual dimorphism and morphological variation of a considerable range in the infraorbital ridge, one of the primary features previously used for species identification. In this study, four species were identified from the region: M. elegans De Man, 1888; M. longipes Stimpson, 1858; M. sheni Gordon, 1930; and M. tredecim Tweedie, 1950. Based on the results of the morphological examination, and as confirmed by molecular evidence from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), taxonomic confusion surrounding M. longipes was resolved, and M. takahasii Sakai, 1939, is considered a junior synonym of M. longipes . The geographical distribution of Metaplax longipes extends along the shores of China, north to Jiangsu, whereas the Southeast Asian M. tredecim was newly recorded from northern Vietnam and Hong Kong.
ISSN:1313-2989
1313-2970
DOI:10.3897/zookeys.877.38300