Subtidal crabs of the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf: New collections and biogeographic considerations
Keywords:
Decapoda, Brachyura, biogeography, taxonomyAbstract
Benthic sampling was performed along all Iranian subtidal waters of the Persian Gulf during the years 2003 and 2004. A total of 56 species of crabs were caught from 174 stations using a trawler fishing net and Peterson grab. These species belong to 12 families, 15 subfamilies and 37 genera. The results of the present study revealed that families Portunidae, Leucosiidae and Pilumnidae have the highest species richness with 14, 13 and 13 species respectively.
Zoogeographical analysis shows that a high proportion (27%) of the Iranian subtidal crabs have world distribution in the Northern part of Indo-West Pacific region and only two endemic species were found.
References
Alcock, A. 1895. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 1: The Brachyura Oxyrhyncha. Part II. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 64(2): 157–291.
Alcock, A. 1896. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 2: The Brachyura Oxystomata. Part II. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 65(2): 134–296.
Alcock, A. 1898. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 3: The Brachyura Cyclometopa. Part I. The family Xanthidae. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 67(1): 67–233.
Alcock, A. 1899a. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 4: The Brachyura Cyclometopa. Part II. The families Portunidae, Canceridae and Corystidae. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 68(1): 1–103.
Alcock, A. 1899b. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 5: The Brachyura Primigenia or Dromiacea. Part II. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 68(3): 123–169.
Alcock, A. 1900. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 6: The Brachyura Catometopa or Grapsoidea. Part II. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 69(2): 279–456.
Apel, M. 2001. “Taxonomie und Zoogeographie der Brachyura, Paguridea und Porcellanidae (Crustacea: Decapoda) des Persisch-Arabischen Golfes”. In (Taxonomy and zoogeography of the Brachyura, Paguridea, and Porcellanidae [Crustacea: Decapoda] of the Persian-Arabian Gulf. In German). Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Naturwissenschaften, Ph.D. dissertation Frankfurt am Main, , Germany: Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.
Apel, M. and Spiridonov, V. A. 1998. Taxonomy and zoogeography of the portunid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae) of the Arabian Gulf and adjacent waters. Fauna of Arabia,, 17: 159–331.
Apel, M. and Türkay, M. 1999. Taxonomic composition, distribution and zoogeographic relationships of the grapsid and ocypodid crab fauna of intertidal soft bottoms in the Arabian Gulf. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 49: 131–142. (Suppl. A)
Bahmani, M. 1997. A systematic study of crabs in the intertidal zone of Hormuzgan province. Iran Fish. Scient. J., 6(1): 1–6.
Griffin, D. J.G. and Tranter, H. A. 1986. The Decapoda Brachyura of the Siboga Expedition. Part VIII. Majidae. Siboga expeditie mon, 148: 1–335.
Guinot, D. 1989. Le genre Carcinoplax H. Milne Edwards, 1852 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Goneplacidae). In: J. Forest (Ed.), Resultats des Campages Musorstom, Volume 5. Mem. Mus. Nant. Hist. nat. Paris, (A),, 144: 265–345.
Jones, D. A. The biological characteristics of the marine habitats found within the ROPME Sea area. Proceedings of the Symposium on Regional Marine Pollution Monitoring and Research Programme. Dec 8–11 1985, Al-Ain, UAE.
Mac Gilchrist, A. G. 1905. Natural history notes from the R. I. M. S. “Investigator”, Captain T. H. Heming, R. N., commanding. Series III, No. 6. An account of the new and some of the rarer decapod Crustacea obtained during the surveying season 1901–1904. Ann. Mag. Nat. His., 15(7): 233–268.
Naderloo, R. 2005. Taxonomic study of the subtidal crabs of the Persian Gulf, Iran, M.Sc. Thesis Iran: University of Tehran.
Naderloo, R. and Sari, A. 2005a. Iranian subtidal leucosiid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) of the Persian Gulf: Taxonomy and zoogeography. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics, 1: 31–46.
Naderloo, R. and Sari, A. 2005b. New record of trapeziid crab, Quadrella reticulata Alcock, 1898 (Brachyura: Trapeziidae) from the Persian Gulf. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics, 1: 67–73.
Nobili, G. 1905. Décapods nouveaux des côtes d' Arabie et du Golfe Persique (Diagnoses préliminaries). (New decapods from Arabian Coasts and the Persian Gulf [Preliminary diagnosis]. In French) Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle., 11: 158–164.
Nobili, G. 1906. Mission J. Bonnier et Ch. Perez (Golfe Persique, 1901). Crustaces Decapodes et Stomatopodes. Bull. Scien. France Belg., 40: 13–159.
Stephensen, K. 1945. The Brachyura of the Iranian Gulf, 57–237. Copenhagen, Munksgaard: Dan. Sci. Invest. Iran. Part IV
Tirmizi, N. M. and Kazmi, Q. B. 1986. Marine Fauna of Pakistan. 4. Crustacea: Brachyura (Dromiacea, Archaebrachyura, Oxystomata, Oxyrhyncha).—Publication I, BCCI Foundation Chair, 1–244. Karachi, , Pakistan: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Karachi.
Titgen, R. H. 1982. The systematics and ecology of the decapods of Dubai, and their zoogeographic relationships to the Arabian Gulf and the Western Indian Ocean, Ph.D thesis Texas, , USA: Texas A & M University.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
