Diversity and Distribution of Fiddler Crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Ocypodidae) around the Arabian Sea

Nine species of fiddler crabs (Crustacea: Ocypodidae: Gelasiminae) are known from the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters (Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and Arabian/Persian Gulf): five species of Austruca, one Cranuca, two Gelasimus and one Tubuca. COI sequence data match morphological species bou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zoological Studies 2022, Vol.61, p.1-18
Main Authors: Shih, Hsi-Te, Prema, Mani, Kumar, Austin Anand Jeya, Saher, Noor Us, Ravichandran, Samuthirapandian, Odhano, Sahir, Paulay, Gustav
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Nine species of fiddler crabs (Crustacea: Ocypodidae: Gelasiminae) are known from the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters (Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and Arabian/Persian Gulf): five species of Austruca, one Cranuca, two Gelasimus and one Tubuca. COI sequence data match morphological species boundaries and shows high connectivity within each. The fauna is highly endemic, with three species of Austruca (A. albimana, A. iranica and A. sindensis) confined to this region, and four others restricted to the Indian Ocean. restricted to the Indian Ocean. Austruca albimana and A. iranica speciated locally and now have narrowly overlapping ranges in Oman. Our results confirm the westernmost distributions of Austruca annulipes and Tubuca alcocki are Pakistan and the Red Sea, respectively. A key for the nine species is also provided to help identification.
ISSN:1021-5506
1810-522X
DOI:10.6620/ZS.2022.61-65