New record of elbow crab from Indian waters

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Malacostraca Latreille, 1802

Order: Decapoda Latreille, 1802

Family: Parthenopidae MacLeay, 1838

Pseudolambrus confragosus (Calman, 1900)

Collection: Southeastern Bay of Bengal, south of Great Nicobar Island, Nicobars, 6.65°N, 93.83°E, 56 m, 16.08.2019 (FORVSS 388, St. 18), Chain dredge.

Voucher No.: CMLRE IO/SS/BRC/00323

Description: Carapace subtriangular, dorsal surface irregularly tuberculate; hepatic region with strongly projected, medially angled margin; gastric region with tall median, distally tapering tubercle; cardiac region with 2 median tubercles. Frontal margin deflexed, ventral surface with 2 depressions; lateral margins distinctly granular, diverging anteriorly, subparallel posteriorly; posterolateral corners with blunt spines; posterior margin with granulate tubercles dorsally. Basal antennal article short, article 4 margin with 2 mesial and 1 lateral teeth. Mxp3 merus subquadrate, with irregularly arranged granules. Chelipeds merus outer margin with large teeth, inner margin with 3 large triangular teeth; carpus with dentate carinae on margins; palm with large crested lobe at midlength of outer margin, dactylus with toothed crest along proximal half. P2–5 outer margins of meri, carpi and propodi bearing larger teeth compared with inner margins. Male pleon elongate sub-triangular, ventral surfaces of somites 3–5 with a transverse row of 4 granules each, that of somite 6 with median granule; telson bluntly triangular.

Biological association: None.

Remarks: New record of elbow crab from Indian waters

Distribution: Torres Straits, Seychelles, Mauritius, Gulf of Aden, Sri Lanka, Andaman Sea (India), Philippines, New Caledonia and Hawaii. Depth range: 18–500 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.