Brachyuran crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Canary Islands (eastern Atlantic): checklist, zoogeographic considerations and conservation

José Antonio González

doi:10.3989/scimar.04350.10a

José Antonio González

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04350.10a

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Journal: Scientia Marina	Publication Date: Nov 11, 2011
Citations: 3	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Abstract

Just 20 years have passed since Gonzalez (1995) finished one of his seminal works on decapod crustaceans of the Canary Islands, thanks to the help of the reputed carcinologists L.B. Holthuis and C.H.J.M. Fransen. This publication allowed d’Udekem d’Acoz (1999) to include the Canarian decapods in his inventory of the NE Atlantic. No checklists of decapod fauna specifically covering this area have been published since then, and an update is needed. The current list of Canarian brachyuran crabs comprises 132 species. Additional species have been recorded thanks to intensified research into deep water, natural range expansions from nearby areas, introduction by anthropogenic activities and description of new taxa; several of these changes are detailed in this review. Although the description of new brachyuran species is not expected to occur at a significant rate, an increase in the number of species from the Canaries is expected to result from trawling and dredging sampling, as well as from introduction of non-native species. For the first time, some zoogeographic comments on the Canarian brachyuran carcinofauna are made. Finally, crab species of commercial interest are listed, their current threats are identified and some updated conservation measures are proposed.

Highlights

Just 20 years have passed since González (1995) finished one of his seminal works on decapod crustaceans of the Canary Islands, thanks to the invaluable help of the reputed carcinologists L.B
A mesoscale distribution of larval communities has recently been described in filaments of the upwelling system from the African coast reaching the southeast of the archipelago (e.g. Landeira et al 2009, 2010)
This represents a number of species close to the 140 brachyuran species reported around the Iberian Peninsula (Marco-Herrero et al 2015), and nearly half of the 284 brachyuran species known in European waters, with 40 freshwater crab species (d’Udekem d’Acoz 1999)

Summary

Introduction

Just 20 years have passed since González (1995) finished one of his seminal works on decapod crustaceans of the Canary Islands, thanks to the invaluable help of the reputed carcinologists L.B. This publication allowed d’Udekem d’Acoz (1999) to include the Canarian decapods in his inventory and distribution of decapods in northeastern Atlantic north of 25°N. The Canary archipelago is an overseas Spanish territory and an outermost European Region placed in the eastern-central Atlantic. This archipelago is situated in front of the northwestern coast of Africa, fairly close to the continents of Europe and Africa (104 km from Cape Juby, Morocco) but separated from them by great depths (Fig. 1). The Canaries are under the influence of the subtropical gyre of the eastern-central Atlantic, which facilitates the transport of planktonic larvae and rafting organisms to the archipelago from the American, European and Northwest African coast. The Canaries are geographically located on a very important maritime route, and both ships and oil platforms have been recognized as major vectors for the introduction of non-native species (e.g. González et al 2012a, Triay-Portella et al 2015)

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