New records of brachyuran crabs such as Grapsus albolineatus Lamarclc, Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst), and lobsters Panibacus aniarcticus (Lund) and Pamlirus homarus (Linnaeus) from Minicoy Island together with the morphological variations observed in the spiny lobster- Pamlirus penicillatus (Olivier) are reported

Kathirvel, M

Meiyappan, M M

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J. mar. biot. Ass. India, 1978, 20 (1 &2) : 116-119 ON SOME NEW RECORDS OF CRABS AND LOBSTERS FROM MINICOY, LAKSHADWEEP (LACCADIVES) M. M. MEIYAPPAN AND M. KATHIRVEL* Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin-d&l 018 ABSTRACT New records of brachyuran crabs such as Grapsus albolineatus Lamarclc, Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst), and lobsters Panibacus aniarcticus (Lund) and Pamlirus homarus (Linnaeus) from Minicoy Island together with the morphological variations observed in the spiny lobster- Pamlirus penicillatus (Olivier) are reported. INTRODUCTION THE BRACHYURAN crabs and lobsters of Laksha-dweep have been studied by Alcock (1895, 1896, 1898, 1899 a,b, 1900), Borrad?.ile (1903, 1906) and Chopra (1933). While Alcock reported 41 species of crabs, 52 species of crabs and 2 species of palinurid lobsters were recorded by Borradaile and 1 species of crab by Chopra. Later Sankarankutty (1961 b) added 15 species of crabs. Studies on the collec-tions nude during 1973-74 by the senior author revealed the occurrence of Grapsus albolineatus Lamarck, Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst), Parribacus antarcticus (Lund) and Panulirus homarus (Linn), in Minicoy Island for the first time. The authors are thankful to Dr. R.V. Nair and late Dr. K.V. Sekharan for their kind encourage-ments and to Shri K. H. Mobamed and Dr. M. M. Thomas for critical reading of the manus-cript. Our thanks are also due to Dr. L. B. Holthuis, Rijksmuseum VanNaturlijks Historic, Leiden for confirming the identification of the scyllarid lobster and to Shri K.L.K. Kesavan for drawing the figure. • Present Address: Madras Research Centre ORDER : DECAPODA SUBORDER : BRACHYURA Family : Grapsidae Grapsus albolineatus Lamarck, 1818 Grapsus strigosus Henderson, 1893, p. 390 ; Alcock 1900, p. 393 ; Chopra and Das, 1937, p. 425 ; Barnard, 1950, p. 115 ; Pillai, 1951, p. 34 ; Chhap-ghar, 1957, p. 515. Grapsus albolineatus Banerjee, 1960, p. 147; Sankarankutty, 1961 a, p. 108. Material: 2 males 30 mm long and 34 mm broad; 36 mm long and 42 mm broad. 3 females 23 mm long and 27 mm broad ; 32 mm lo!ig and 36 mm broad ; 36 mm long and 42 ram broad. Locality: Inter-tidal region of the eastern side of the Island. Remarks : In one of the males in the collec-tion (measuring 42 ram broad), there is an additional spine on the anterior border of the arm of the right cheliped while the left chela possesses the normal compliment of three spines only. Distribution : The species is widely distri-of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, buted throughout the Indo-Pacific region from Madras-600105. Red Sea and west coast of Africa to Japan, ON SOME NEW RECORDS OF CRABS AND LOBSTERS 117 the Polynesian Islands and Hawaii. It has been reported from Rameshwaram, Tuticorin (Henderson, 1893), Baluchistan, Sind coast, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Alcock, 1900), Travancore (Pillai, 1951) and Bombay (Chhap-ghar, 1957). This is the first record of the species from Minicoy, as also from the Laksha-dweep. Family : Gecarcinidae Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst, 1794) Cancer carnifex Herbst, 1794, p. 263. Cardiosonta carnifex Alcock, 1900, p. 445 ; Borra-daile, 1903, p. 97. Cardisoma carnifex Tesch, 1918, p. 137 ; Barnard, 1950, p. 110; Sankarankutty, 1962, p. 161. Material: 1 male, 91 mm long and 112 mm broad. Locality: Sandy beach on the lagooii-side of the Island. Remarks: The appearance of bristles on the merus of the walking legs agrees with the description given by Alcock (1900). The species is rarely seen in the Minicoy Island. The present specimen was obtained at a distance of about 8 metres above the low water rnark and there was no trace of crab castles in the vicinity. Distribution : Gulf of Mannar (Henderson, 1893); Andamans, Tahiti and Madagascar Alcock, 1900); Maldives (Borradi-.-le, 1903); East coast of Africa (Barnard, 1950). This is the first record of the species from Minicoy as well as from Lakshadweep. SUBORDER : MACRURA Family : Scyllaridae Parribacus antarcticus (Lund, 1793) (Fig. 1) Scyllarus antarcticus Lund, 1793, p. 22. Cancer {Astacus) urrus major Herbst, 1793, p. 82. Parribacus antarcticus Dana, 1952 a, p. 14. Parribacus ursus major deMan, 1916, p'93 ;Barnard, 1950, p. 565. Parribacus (intarcticiis Holthuis, 1946, p, 102, Material: I male, total length 181 mm (Carapace length 70 ram). Locality : From a coral crevice in the lagoon at a depth of 3 meters, Fig. 1. Parribacus antarctious (Lund) from Minicoy. Remarks: Sinc3 this is the first record of the genus Parribacus Dana from Indian waters, a short description of the present male speci-men of P. antarcticus is given here. Antenna, carapp.ce, abdomen and spiny portion of the telson covered with rounded squamiform tuberc-les ; each tubercle surrounded by a fringe of hairs ; rostrum with an indistinct tooth, 4 more teeth before tl-e cervical groove on the mid-line of carapace, of which the last three placed rather close; cardiac tooth distinct and blunt, but not erect; behind the cardiac tooth, 7 groups of submedian teeth ; teeth on the orbital margin blunt, but those on the 118 M. M. MEIYAPPAN AND M. KATHIRVEL anterior border are somewhat pointed ; totally 8 spines on the lateral border of carapace, of which two are placed before the cervical incision; a narrow groove on the posterior margin of carapace; distal segment of the antenna with 7 large sharply pointed teeth, one inner tooth and 4 smaller teeth on the outer margin; (de Man, 1916) observed 6 and 7 spines on the outer margin of the left and right antennae respectively); exopod of the first, second and third maxillipeds with unseg-mented flagelliun; transverse groove on the abdominal somites devoid of hairs and tubercles, they are broad in the first two and narrow in the rest of the somites; pereiopods slender; sternum with a pit in between the fourth walk-ing legs; pleopods with elongated endopod and exopod which diminish in size from second to fifth abdominal somites. Colour of the specimen at the time of capture was bright yellow with a few scattered brownish blotches on carapace and abdomen ; orange spots on the proximal and distal part of the spines of the antennae. Distribution : The species is known through-out the Indo-Pacific (from east coast of Africa, Mauritius, Sximatra, Philippines, Australia, Formosa to Japan) and in the Atlantic (Carib-bean Sea and coast of Brazil). This is the first record of the species from Indian waters. Family: Palinuridae Panulirus homanis (Linnaeus, 1758) Panulirus burgeri Caiman, 1925, p. 21. Panulirus dasypus Gravely, 1927, p. 138. Panulirus homarus George, 1963, p. 3 ; George and Rao 1967, p. 331. Material: I male, total length 188 mm (carapace length 65 mm). Locality: From coral reef in the inter-tidal region on the eastern side of the Island. Remarks: The crenulated grooves of the third, fourth and fifth abdominal somites are interrupted in the midway. Distribution : Widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific from South Africa through Red Sea, South coast of Arabia and Indian seas to East Indies and Japan. This is the first record of the species from Minicoy. Along with these new records, specimens of another palinurid lobster, Panulirus penicilla-tus (Olivier) which is the most commonly found in the Island were also collected. Previously Borradaile (1906) recorded the dried shells of the species from this area. The morpho-logical variations observed in P. penicillatus of the present collection are given below. In a specimen measuring 112 mm in carapace length, there is an additional spine along with normal anterior and posterior spines on the right side of the antennular plate. In another specimen measuring 174 mm in total length, the grooves present on the third and fourth abdominal segment are interrupted in the middle. Normally, the interruption of the groove in the midway is known in P. homarus among the grooved forms of the genus Panulirus. The pleura of somites II to IV of the abdomen showed teeth, which in some specimens, are very distinct, acute and constant in number, while in others they are inconspicuous and less in number or totally absent. REFERENCES ALCOCK, A. 1895. Materials for a carcinological • 1898. Materials for a carcinological fauna fauna of India. 1. The Brachyura Oxyrhyncha. / . of India. 3. The Brachyura Cyclometopa. Part I. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 64 (2) 2 : 157-259. The Family Xanthidae. /6W., 67 (1) : 67-233. 1896. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. 2. The Brachyura Oxystomata. Jbid., 65 of India. (2) 2 : 134-296, A revision of the Cyclometopa with m account of the - 1899 a. Materials for a carcinological fauna 4. The Brachyura Cyclometopa. Part II. ON SOME NEW RECORDS OF CRABS AND LOBSTERS 119 families Portunidac, Cancridae and Corystidae. Ibid., 68 (2) 1: 11-164. — ~ 1899 b. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. 5. The Brachyura Primlgenia or Dromiacea. Ibid., 68 (2) 3 : 123-169. —— 1900. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. 6. The Brachyura Catometopa or Grapsidae» Ibid., 69 (2) 6 : 279-456. BANERJEE, S. K . 1960. The genera Grapsus, Geo-grapsus and Metapograpsus (Crustacea-Brachyura). Biological results of the Snellius Expedition, XVIII. Temminckia, 10 : 132-199. BARNARD, K . H . 1950. Descriptive catalogue of South African Decapod Crustacea. Ann. S. Afr. Mas., 38 : 1-824. BORRADAILE, L . A , 1903 & 1906. Marine Crusta^ ceans. In : Fauna and Geography of the Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagos, Part I & II. Cambridge Univ. Press. CALMAN, W . T . 1925. Macrurous Decapod Cru-stacea collected in South African waters by the S. S. ' Pickle '. 5. African Fish. Mar. Biol. Survey. Rep., 4 (3) : 1-26. CHHAPGHAR, B . F . 1957. On the marine crabs (Decapoda : Brachyura) of Bombay State. / . Bombay nat. Hist. Soc, 54 (3): 503-549. CHOPRA, B . N . 1933. Further notes on Crustacea Decapoda in the Indian Museum IIT. On the Decapoda Crustacea collected by the Bengal Pilot Service off the mouth of the river Hoogly. Dromiacea and Oxystomat. Rec. Indian Mas., 35 : 25-32 AND K.N. DAS 1937. Further notes on Crustacea Decapoda in the Indian Museum. On three collections of crabs from Tavoy and Mergui Archipelagoes. Ibid., 39: 377-434. •DANA, J. D. 1852a. Conspectus Crstaceorumquae in Orbis Terrarum Circum-navigatione. Carolo Wilkes e Classe Republicae Foederate Duce, lexit et descripsit. Proc. Acad. nat. Scl. Philad., 1852, p. 10-28. D E MAN, J. G . 1916. The Decapoda of Siboga Expedition. Part III. Families Eryonidae, Palinuridae, Scyllaridae and Nephropsidae. Siboga Exped. Monogr., 39 a (2) : 1-122. GEORGE, R . W . 1963. Report to the Government of Aden on the crayfish resources of Eastern Eden Protectrate. Rep.FAOjEPTA (1960) : 1-23. GEORGE, M.J. AND P. VEDAVYASA RAO 1967. On some decapod crustsceans from the southwest coast • Not referred to in original. of India. Proc. Symp. Crustacea, Mar. blol. Ass. India Part 1: 327-336. GRAVELY, F . H . 1927. Crustacea in the littora fauna of Krusadai Island in the Gulf of Mannar. Bull Madras Govt. Mus. (n.s.), 1 (1) : 135-155. •HENDERSON, J. R. 1893. A contribution to Indian Carcinology. Trans Linn. Soe. London, (^ool)., 5 (2): 325-458. •HERBST, 1791-96. Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben and Krabse nebst einer systematischen. Beschiebung Ihrer verschiedenen Art en, 2 :1-226. HoLTHUis, L. B. 1946. XIV. The Decapoda Mac-rura of the Snellius Expedition. 1. Stenopodidae, Nephropsidae, Scyllaridae and Palinuridae. Biological results of the Snellius Expedition. Temminckia, 7 : 1-178. •LAMARCK, J. P. 1818. Histoire naturelle des Ani-maux sans Vertebres, presentant les caracteres generaux et particuliers des ces animaux, leur distribution, leurs classes, leurs families, leurs generes, et le citation des principles especes qui s'y rapportent; precedee d'une entroduction offrant la Determination des caracteres essentiels de L ' Animals, sa distinction du vegetal et des autres corps naturelles, enfin, L* Exposition des Principles fondamentaux de law Zoologie. Hist. nat. Anihi. s. Vert.. 5 :1-612. •LINNAEUS, C . 1758. Systema Naturaw per Regna tria Naturae, secundum Classes, Orderes, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, tocis, Id. 10,1:1-824. •LUND, N . T . 1793. Slaegten Scyllarus. lagttagel-ser til Insekternes Historic. / . Skr. naturh. Selsk. kbh,. 2 (2) : 16-22. PiLLAi, N.K. 1951. Decapoda (Brachyura) from Travancore. Bull. Res. Inst. Univ. Travancore, 2 (1) Ser. C : 1-46. SANKARANKUTTY, C. 1961 a. On some decapoda Brachyura from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 1. Families Portunidae, Ocypodidae, Grapsidae and Mictyridae. J. mar. blol. Ass. India, 3 : \0l-119. • • 1961 b. On some crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the Laccadive Archipelago. Ibid., 3 : 120-136. 1962. On Decapoda Brachyura from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 3. Families : Calap-pidae, Leucosidae, Parthenopidae, Maiidae and Gecar-cinidae. Ibid, 4(1): 151-164. TESCH, J.J. 1918. The Decapoda Brachyura of the Siboga Expedition. 1. Hymenosomidae, Refrc-plumidae, Ocypodiae, Grapsdidae and Geearcinidae. Siboga Exped. Monogr.. 39 c : 1-148. , 

On some new records of crabs and lobsters from Minicoy,

Lakshadweep (Laccadives)

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On some new records of crabs and lobsters from Minicoy, Lakshadweep (Laccadives)

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