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Three New Records of Brachyuran Species (Crustacea: Decapoda) From Maharashtra, India, Central Eastern Arabian Sea

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Abstract

In the present study, three species of brachyuran crabs, Ocypode brevicornis H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Ocypodidae), Pilumnopeus convexus (Maccagno in Annali Del Museo Civico Di Storia Naturale Di Genova 59:171–186, 1936) (Pilumnidae) and Atergatis laevigatus A. Milne-Edwards, 1865 (Xanthidae), are reported for first time from Maharashtra, in India. The samples were collected from intertidal areas of sandy and rocky habitats from different regions of Maharashtra, India, Arabian Sea. The main characteristics to identify O. brevicornis are carapace size, anterolateral margins and gonopod shape, P. convexus- smooth carapace, bilobed frontal tooth and gonopods and A. laevigatus- carapace colour and size and gonopods. The range distribution record of these species will serve as useful information for investigators working on brachyuran taxonomy. The detailed taxonomic description, distribution and remarks of the species are illustrated and described in this communication.

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Availability of Data and Materials

The data generated in this study are included in this article and the specimens are deposited in ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education and Bombay Natural History Museum, Mumbai, with their accession numbers.

Abbreviations

CW:

Carapace width

CL:

Carapace length

G1:

First left gonopod

S8:

Sternite 8

Coll:

Specimen collector the terminology used essentially follows Ng et al. (2008)

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Director, ICAR CIFE for providing facilities to conduct the study. The authors are also thankful to Dr. Jignesh Trivedi for confirming the species. Authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript.

Funding

The study was self-funded by first author.

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  1. ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch marg, off Yari road, Versova, Mumbai, 400 061, India

    Mayura Khot & A. K. Jaiswar

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  1. Mayura Khot
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Mayura Khot has collected the sample, identified the species and completed the manuscript under the guidance of A. K. Jaiswar.

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Correspondence to A. K. Jaiswar.

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Khot, M., Jaiswar, A.K. Three New Records of Brachyuran Species (Crustacea: Decapoda) From Maharashtra, India, Central Eastern Arabian Sea. Thalassas 37, 585–591 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-021-00314-3

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