Ghatiana pulchra

Last updated

Ghatiana pulchra
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Gecarcinucidae
Genus: Ghatiana
Species:
G. pulchra
Binomial name
Ghatiana pulchra
Pati & Thackeray, 2018

Ghatiana pulchra is a species of freshwater crab from the northern Western Ghats in India that was first identified in 2018. [1]

Contents

Characteristics

Ghatiana pulchra is distinguished from other crabs of the genus Ghatiana by its distinctive red-violet carapace, chelipeds with blanched fingers, as well as its dark red-violet ambulatory legs. [1]

Distribution

Ghatiana pulchra's type locality is Valmiki Pathaar in Satara district of Maharashtra. It is endemic to this area. [1]

Behaviour and ecology

Ghatiana pulchra is a highly stenotopic crab and restricted to an area of 1 km or less as it lives in the Valmiki Pathaar, which is an isolated, flat-topped, and high mountain. Such a high endemism of the species could be related to the isolated and elevated nature of the mountain that plays a role of 'sky island'. G.pulchara is restricted only to the edge of the mountain plateau on grassy slopes. It dwells inside the holes of boulders mainly of basaltic formation that are accumulated with rainwater. A couple of crabs were also noticed adventuring out in the open ground soon after the sunset, which indicates a crepuscular or even nocturnal nature of the species. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of New Guinea</span> Native animals of New Guinea

The fauna of New Guinea comprises a large number of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, invertebrates and amphibians.

<i>Afrithelphusa</i> Genus of crabs

Afrithelphusa is a genus of freshwater crabs in the family Deckeniidae. It contains four species, all of which were formerly listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are all endemic to the Upper Guinean forests of Guinea and Sierra Leone.

<i>Potamonautes</i> Genus of crabs

Potamonautes is a genus of African freshwater crabs in the family Potamonautidae. It is both the most widespread and most diverse genus of African freshwater crabs, including more than half the species of this continent. They are found in most freshwater habitats of the African mainland and some species are semi-terrestrial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gecarcinucidae</span> Family of crabs

The Gecarcinucidae are a family of true freshwater crabs. They are found throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and New Guinea, with a single genus found in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pseudothelphusidae</span> Family of crabs

Pseudothelphusidae is a family of freshwater crabs found chiefly in mountain streams in the Neotropics. They are believed to have originated in the Greater Antilles and then crossed to Central America via a Pliocene land bridge. Some species of this family are troglobitic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavefish</span> Fish adapted to life in caves

Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and hypogean fish.

<i>Johora</i> Genus of crabs

Johora is a genus of freshwater crabs found in the Malay Peninsula and surrounding islands. It includes the following species:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freshwater crab</span> Common name for a non-marine crab

Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which release thousands of planktonic larvae. This limits the dispersal abilities of freshwater crabs, so they tend to be endemic to small areas. As a result, a large proportion are threatened with extinction.

<i>Seychellum</i> Genus of crabs

Seychellum alluaudi is a species of freshwater crab endemic to the Seychelles, and the only true freshwater crab in that country. It lives in rainforest streams on the archipelago's granitic high islands. Although it may be abundant, little is known about its biology. If its habitat were to decline in quality, S. alluaudi might become endangered, but it is currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrestrial crab</span> Crabs that live primarily on land

A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as Sesarma, although the term "land crab" is often used to mean solely the family Gecarcinidae.

<i>Austrothelphusa transversa</i> Species of crustacean in Australia

Austrothelphusa transversa(von Martens, 1868), also known as the inland crab, freshwater crab, or tropical freshwater crab is a species of freshwater crab endemic to Australia. A. transversa is the most widely-dispersed species of its genus, as it has adaptations giving it a high tolerance to drought and arid conditions.

<i>Nanhaipotamon</i> Genus of crabs

Nanhaipotamon is a genus of freshwater crabs, in the subfamily Potamiscinae, found in southern China and Taiwan. As of 2018, 18 species have been described. The genus is named after the South China Sea, for it occurs mostly in coastal areas. The genus was first described by R. Bott in 1968 as Isolapotamon (Nanhaipotamon), i.e., a subgenus of Isolapotamon.

<i>Nanhaipotamon macau</i> Species of crab

Nanhaipotamon macau, the Coloane hill crab, is a species of freshwater crab found solely in twelve hill streams on the island of Coloane in Macao. A member of the genus Nanhaipotamon, it was first described in December 2018 and is closely related to other land crabs such as Nanhaipotamon hongkongense.

<i>Ghatiana</i> Genus of crabs

Ghatiana is a genus of freshwater crabs, found among the Western Ghats in India.

Gubernatoriana triangulus is a species of freshwater crab in the family Gecarcinucidae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats in India.

<i>Ghatiana dvivarna</i> Species of crab

Ghatiana dvivarna is a species of freshwater crab from the Central Western Ghats in India that was first identified in 2022.

<i>Ghatiana atropurpurea</i> Species of crab

Ghatiana atropurpurea is a species of arboreal crab from India that was first identified in 2016. Unlike other species of its genus, Ghatiana, it is not endemic to the Western Ghats.

<i>Ghatiana splendida</i> Species of crab

Ghatiana splendida is a species of crab from India, first identified in 2016 in the Western Ghats. Tejas Thackeray, among the discovers of the species, has said that "locals" to where it was first described were aware of the species and would refer to it as the "purple tree crab" or the "pink forest crab". Thackeray first encountered the crab while searching for the olive forest snake.

<i>Barytelphusa cunicularis</i>

Barytelphusa cunicularis is a common species of freshwater crab found almost all over India, excluding Northeast India.

<i>Microthelphusa wymani</i> Species of crustacean

Microthelphusa wymani is a species from the genus Microthelphusa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Pati, S.K.; Thackeray, Tejas (25 June 2018). "The freshwater crab genera Ghatiana Pati & Sharma, Gubernatoriana Bott, and Inglethelphusa Bott (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae) revisited, with descriptions of a new genus and eleven new species". Zootaxa. 4440 (1): 73. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4440.1.1 .