New record of swimming crab from Indian waters

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Malacostraca Latreille, 1802

Order: Decapoda Latreille, 1802

Family: Portunidae Rafinesque, 1815

Cavoportunus dubius (Laurie, 1906)

Collection: Andaman Sea, west of Tillangchong Island, Nicobars, 8.44°N, 93.59°E, 69 m, 13.08.2019 (FORVSS 388, St. 11), Chain dredge.

Voucher No.: CMLRE IO/SS/BRC/00191

Description: Carapace hexagonal, dorsal surface glabrous, microscopically granular with distinct regions; only metagastric ridge distinct. Frontal margin quadridentate; infraorbital margin straight, granular, with forward-directed tooth; anterolateral margin with 9 teeth, first tooth largest. Basal antennal article with lobe-like process. Mxp3 merus subquadrate, anterolateral margin produced into rounded lobe. Cheliped merus with 4 spines on anterior margin, 1 distal spine on posterior margin; carpus with long spine on inner angle; palm with 2 granular ridges on dorsal surface terminating in subdistal spines, short spine at carpal articulation, outer surface with 3 longitudinal granular costae on lower half; fingers as long as palm. P5 merus posterior margin dentate. Male pleon triangular, somite 3 posterior margin with median cleft, somite 4 lateral margins convex, those of somite 5 slightly convex; telson triangular. G1 stout, S-shaped; basal part relatively slender, subdistal portion distinctly dilated into a bluntly triangular lobe; distal tip with distinct folds.

Biological association: None.

Remarks: New record of the genus Cavoportunus Nguyen & Ng, 2010 from Indian waters

Distribution: Sri Lanka, Andaman Sea (India), Philippines, Japan, and French Polynesia. Depth range: 20–500 m.

Distribution map:

Identified by: Vinay P. Padate

Publication: Padate V.P., Cubelio S.S., Takeda M. (2024) First records of some coral reef-associated brachyuran crabs from the Nicobar archipelago, India. Zootaxa, 5486 (4): 067–498.

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