A collection of crabs (Crustacea, Brachyura) from the southwestern coast of India, with a discussion of the systematic position of Nectopanope Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891 (Euryplacidae).

Peter K.L Ng,P Priyaja,A Biju Kumar,S Suvarna Devi

doi:10.3897/zookeys.818.32108

Abstract

A report on the brachyuran crabs collected from the southwestern coast of India by the Indian research vessel FORV Sagar Sampada is presented. The material consists of 13 species from three genera and five families, of which four are new records for India: Heteroplaxmaldivensis (Rathbun, 1902) (Euryplacidae), Cryptopodiacollifer Flipse, 1930 (Parthenopidae), Thalamitamacrodonta Borradaile, 1903 (Portunidae), and Paraxanthodescumatodes (MacGilchrist, 1905) (Xanthidae). The cruise also obtained the first known male of Nectopanoperhodobaphes Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891 (type species of Nectopanope Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891), and its characters show that it is in fact a member of the Euryplacidae Stimpson, 1871. The genus had previously been incorrectly classified in the Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838.

Highlights

We here report on a small but noteworthy collection of brachyuran crabs obtained by a fishery research vessel off the southwestern coast of India in 2017
The male characters show that Nectopanope is a member of Euryplacidae Stimpson, 1871, and close to Psopheticoides Sakai, 1969, from the western Pacific
All specimens were collected during an exploratory survey of FORV Sagar Sampada belonging to the Center for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, India, in May 2017, conducted along the southwestern coast of India

Summary

Introduction

We here report on a small but noteworthy collection of brachyuran crabs obtained by a fishery research vessel off the southwestern coast of India in 2017. A male of the rarely reported parthenopid Cryptopodia collifer Flipse, 1930, not previously known from India, is figured. The present specimen from India is incomplete and not in good condition, but agrees with the description and figures of T. macrodonta by Crosnier

Results

Conclusion