Abstract
The present study reports seven hermit crab species of the genus Clibanarius, viz., C. infraspinatus, C. longitarsus, C. rhabdodactylus, C. rutilus, C. signatus, C. virescens, and C. zebra, from the intertidal zone of Gujarat State on the west coast of India. With the exception of C. zebra, the remaining six species are the first records from the west coast of India, and two species, C. rutilus and C. rhabdodactylus are new records from mainland India. All the recorded species were found inhabiting rocky, sandy and muddy intertidal habitats. We have appended the diagnostic descriptions and live coloration of all species based on the observations of our voucher specimens. Comments are provided where they differ slightly from the published records of that species, enriching the available identification keys for the intertidal hermit crabs of the Indian Ocean.
Highlights
It is noteworthy to mention here that all these hermit crab species were found to be common along the studied coastline
Lack of sampling may certainly be considered as a contributing factor, but it is possible that any recent shifts in the habitat range in response to climatic change, adaptation and migration, might have influenced the diversity of hermit crabs of this region (Vaghela & Kundu 2012)
Biju Kumar & Michael Norén, Pp. 10365–10368
Summary
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