Perisesarma guttatum

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Contents

Red-claw mangrove crab
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Decapoda
Infraorder:
Brachyura
Family:
Sesarmidae
Genus:
Parasesarma
Species:
P. guttatum
Binomial name
Perisesarma guttatum
(Milne-Edwards, 1869)
Synonyms
  • Chiromanthes guttatum(A. Milne Edwards, 1869)
  • Sesarma guttatumA. Milne-Edwards, 1869 [1]

Perisesarma guttatum, the red-claw mangrove crab, [2] is a crab species in the genus Parasesarma and the family Sesarmidae. [3] It is distributed in coastal brackish water habitats of the western Indian Ocean. [4] [5]

Description

Along with the other species within the genus Perisesarma, the red-claw mangrove crab has a relatively square-shaped carapace and a “tooth” protruding off the sides of it. [6] The hand (claw) of the crab consists of a palm and dactylus. At the end of the dactylus are oval or circular shaped bumps called tubercles. The part leading up to the claws, the chelar carpus, also has pectinate crests on males within the genus. [6] A pectinate crest is a ridge-like projection on the crab; these ridges line the chelar carpus side-by-side. [7] Different species of Perisesarma vary in the amount of their tubercles in addition to the number of pectinate crests. [6]

Perisesarma guttatum have 20 pectinate crests and 11 to 13 oval-shaped tubercles on top of their claws. [6] [8] Their claws are reddish in color with bright orange internal palms. The carapace is about 3 cm in length and between 1.5 and 2.2 cm in width on average in adults. [9] At maturity, males display larger claws than females, showing sexual dimorphism. [9] [3] Sexual dimorphism is when there is a difference (often in visible attributes) between sexes within one species of organism.

Perisesarma samawati, a sympatric species, was confused for P. guttatum until more recently, though their morphologies are distinctly different. [10] Unlike P. guttatum, P. Samawati only has 7 to 9 tubercles on the upper surface of their claws. [8] [10] The size of their bodies differs as well. [10]

Distribution

Perisesarma guttatum is a mangrove inhabitant mostly located by Avicennia marina . The species inhabit these mangroves in east African coasts and Madagascar. [11] Despite increases in pollution from sewage in these areas, the crabs tolerate and are even capable of using the excess nutrients, making them less helpful in measuring mangrove health. [9] [12]

Ecology

The species use burrows and natural crevices made by Neosarmatium smithi to hide from predators and also for survival. Perisesarma guttatum is mainly herbivorous, eating dead plant material and other organic matter foraged from the estuarine or forest floor during low tides. [9] [12] [11] Their diets therefore contribute to leaf turnover and the general removal of matter from the substratum. [13] [10]

Reproduction and life history

Females begin to reach sexual maturity around 2 years old; adults then mate throughout the year, but a study suggests that breeding correlates with lunar phases. [3] Females tend to release their larvae before spring tides, which occur during new and full moons. [3] However, females cannot breed for two consecutive spring tides, which suggests this pattern is seen due to two breeding groups within one population. [3]

During the early stages of life, planktonic larvae move offshore and are distributed with the help of ocean currents. [13] They later return as megalopa larvae – the step in their development that comes after 5 planktonic life stages – and settle in the nearshore environments around where they were once born. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiddler crab</span> Genus of crabs

The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, while the females' claws are both the same size. A smaller number of ghost crab and mangrove crab species are also found in the family Ocypodidae. This entire group is composed of small crabs, the largest being slightly over two inches (5 cm) across. Fiddler crabs are found along sea beaches and brackish intertidal mud flats, lagoons, swamps, and various other types of brackish or salt-water wetlands.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grapsoidea</span> Superfamily of crabs

The Grapsoidea are a superfamily of crabs; they are well known and contain many taxa which are terrestrial (land-living), semiterrestrial, or limnic. Another well-known member with a more conventional lifestyle is the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis.

<i>Perisesarma</i> Genus of crabs

Perisesarma is a genus of mangrove crabs in the family Sesarmidae predominantly found in the Indo-Pacific. Some 23 species are described as of late 2006, with two from West Africa: P. kammermani(De Man, 1883) and P. albertiRathbun, 1921. They are typically small, semiterrestrial crabs found on the forest floor at low tide. They eat nearly anything they can, and try to eat anything that does not threaten them — including pencils and other objects dropped on the forest floor. The last species of the genus described is P. samawatiGillikin and Schubart (2004). It can be found in East Africa along with P. guttatum, but its sister species is P. eumolpe from Malaysian mangroves.

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

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

The Sesarmidae are a family of crabs, previously included in the Grapsidae by many authors. Several species, namely in Geosesarma, Metopaulias, and Sesarma, are true terrestrial crabs. They do not need to return to the sea even for breeding.

<i>Parasesarma erythrodactyla</i> Species of crab

Parasesarma erythrodactyla, also known as the red-handed shore crab, is a burrowing crab inhabiting mangrove forests in Australia and Southeast Asia. It is immediately identifiable by its bright red chelipeds (claws) and green/brown carapace.

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

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<i>Austruca perplexa</i> Species of crab

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<i>Dyspanopeus sayi</i> Species of crab

Dyspanopeus sayi is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North Sea since 2007 and the Black Sea since 2010. It can reach a carapace width of 20 mm (0.8 in), and has black tips to its unequal claws. It feeds on bivalves and barnacles, and is in turn eaten by predators including the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Eggs are produced from spring to autumn, the offspring reach sexual maturity the following summer, and individuals can live for up to two years. The closest relative of D. sayi is D. texanus, which lives in the Gulf of Mexico; the two species differ in subtle features of the genitalia and the last pair of walking legs.

<i>Parasesarma leptosoma</i> Species of crab

Parasesarma leptosoma, also known as the arboreal crab, is an arboreal, leaf-eating mangrove crab, from East and South Africa where it is found on Rhizophora mucronata and Bruguiera gymnorhiza, but not on Avicennia marina. It occupies an ecological niche similar to that of another sesarmid, Aratus pisonii, from the Americas.

<i>Geosesarma dennerle</i> Species of crab

Geosesarma dennerle is a species of small land-living crabs found on Java, Indonesia.

<i>Episesarma versicolor</i> Species of crab

The violet vinegar crab is a swimming crab species in the genus Episesarma. Distributed all over marine and brackish waters of Indo-West Pacific regions. It is harvested by many local fishermen for rich proteinaceous food.

<i>Haberma tingkok</i> Species of crustacean

The Micro Mangrove Crab (Haberma tingkok) is a species of micro-mangrove crab native to Hong Kong. It was first discovered by Stefano Cannicci from the University of Hong Kong and Peter Ng from the University of Singapore in the Ting Kok Mangrove forests in the northeast of Hong Kong and listed on the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) in April 2017. It was the third species placed in the genus Haberma, which was discovered in 2002.

<i>Haberma</i> Genus of crustaceans

Haberma is genus of small mangrove or terrestrial crabs, typically less than 1 centimetre (0.4 in) across the carapace.

<i>Leptuca thayeri</i> Species of crustacean

Leptuca thayeri, known generally as the Atlantic mangrove fiddler crab or mangrove fiddler, is a species of true crab in the family Ocypodidae. It is distributed all across the Western Atlantic.

Leptuca speciosa, commonly known as the brilliant fiddler crab or the longfinger fiddler crab, is a species of fiddler crab native to the southern United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

<i>Parasesarma messa</i> Species of crab

Parasesarma messa, commonly known as the maroon mangrove crab, is a species of burrowing crab found in Queensland, Australia. It lives in mangroves in estuaries and sheltered bays. It was originally described as Sesarma messa, but was placed in the genus Parasesarma in 2017. Perisesarma messa is also a synonym.

<i>Aratus</i> (genus) Genus of mangrove crabs

Aratus is a neotropical genus of tree-climbing mangrove crabs in the serarmid family. The genus was first described by Henri Milne-Edwards in 1853, by separating A. pisonii into its own monotypic genus. Aratus has a range spanning Baja California and Sonora, south to Peru along the east Pacific, and from Florida to Brazil in the west Atlantic. Though there has long been attempts to distinguish the Atlantic and Pacific populations of Aratus into separate taxa, it was not until 2014 that sufficient genetic and morphological evidence was collected for the Pacific population to be described as a distinct species.

<i>Sesarmops</i> Genus of crabs

Sesarmops is a genus of crabs in the family Sesarmidae. Its members are distributed through the Indo–West-Pacific oceanic region. They live in freshwater forest streams near the coast, and in mangroves.

References

  1. ↑ "Perisesarma guttatum (A. Milne-Edwards, 1869)". World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Observations in the Species: Perisesarma guttatum". © The Open University. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Flores AA, Saraiva J, Paula J (January 2002). "Sexual maturity, reproductive cycles, and juvenile recruitment of Perisesarma guttatum (Brachyura, Sesarmidae) at Ponta Rasa mangrove swamp, Inhaca Island, Mozambique". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 22 (1): 143–156. doi: 10.1163/20021975-99990217 .
  4. ↑ "Sesarma guttatum Milne-Edwards, 1869". sea life base. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Perisesarma guttatum (Milne-Edwards, 1869)". sea life base. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Shahdadi A, Schubart CD (January 2015). "Evaluating the consistency and taxonomic importance of cheliped and other morphological characters that potentially allow identification of species of the genus Perisesarma De Man, 1895 (Brachyura, Sesarmidae)". Crustaceana. 88 (10–11): 1079–1095. doi:10.1163/15685403-00003473. ISSN   1568-5403.
  7. ↑ Bowling B (2012). "Crustacean Glossary". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. 1 2 "Perisesarma guttatum (A. Milne Edwards, 1869)". A field guide to Kenyan mangroves. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Amaral V, Penha-Lopes G, Paula J (July 2009). "RNA/DNA ratio of crabs as an indicator of mangrove habitat quality". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 19 (S1): S56–S62. doi:10.1002/aqc.1039. S2CID   84150126.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Gillikin DP, Schubart CD (July 2004). "Ecology and systematics of mangrove crabs of the genus Perisesarma (Crustacea: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) from East Africa". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 141 (3): 435–445. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00125.x .
  11. 1 2 Fratini S, Ragionieri L, Cannicci S (December 2017). "Correction: Demographic History and Reproductive Output Correlates with Intraspecific Genetic Variation in Seven Species of Indo-Pacific Mangrove Crabs". PLOS ONE. 12 (12): e0189550. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1289550F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189550 . PMC   5724817 . PMID   29228041.
  12. 1 2 Cannicci S, Bartolini F, Dahdouh-Guebas F, Fratini S, Litulo C, Macia A, et al. (September 2009). "Effects of urban wastewater on crab and mollusc assemblages in equatorial and subtropical mangroves of East Africa" (PDF). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Marine Science in the Western Indian Ocean Responds to Population Pressures and Climate Change. 84 (3): 305–317. Bibcode:2009ECSS...84..305C. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2009.04.021. ISSN   0272-7714.
  13. 1 2 3 Silva IC, Mesquita N, Paula J (January 2010). "Genetic and morphological differentiation of the mangrove crab Perisesarma guttatum (Brachyura: Sesarmidae) along an East African latitudinal gradient". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 99 (1): 28–46. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01338.x .


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