Thirty one potential ornamental, marine brachyuran crabs belonging to

eleven families, namely Calappidae, Corystidae, Dorippidae, Dromiidae,

Epialtidae, Galenidae, Leucosiidae, Matutidae, Parthenopidae, Portunidae and

Xanthidae, landed by trawlers at Chennai Fisheries Harbour are reported. Their

morphological/colour pattern, length range in the fishery and season of

occurrence are given. Majority of these crabs are used as raw material in fish

and poultry meal preparation. Their attractive colour and morphological

features make them good candidates for aquarium purpose

Kizhakudan, Joe K

Pillai, S Lakshmi

Thirumilu, P

CMFRI Digital Repository

FISHING CHIMES Vol. 33 No. 4 1 July 2013Potential Ornamental Marine Brachyuran Crabs available off ChennaiAuthorsS. Lakshmi Pillai1 Joe K. Kizhakudanand2 P.Thirumilu2'Central M arine Fisheries Research Institute Ernakutam North P.O Kochi - 1 8Email:slakshmipiHai @ redittmail.com2Central M arine Fisheries Research Intilute Sanlhom e High Road R.A. Puram  Chennai - 2BAbstractThirty one potential ornam ental, marine b rachyu ran  crabs belonging to eleven families, namely C a lap p id ae ,  C orystidae, D orippidae, Dromiidae, Epialtidae, Galenidae, Leucosiidae, Matutidae, Parthenopidae, Portunidae and Xanthidae, landed by trawlers at Chennai Fisheries Harbour are reported. Their morphological/colour pattern , length  range in  the f ishery  and season of occurrence are given. Majority of these crabs are used as raw material in fish and poultry meal preparation. T h e ir  attractive co lo u r  and morphological features make them good candidates for aquarium purpose.Keywords: brachyuran crabs, ornamental, Chennai, carapace width.IntroductionBrachyuran crabs are the m ost diverse group among the d ecap o d  crustaceans with 6,793 sp e c ies  and subspecies recognised (Ng et al., 2008). The crab fauna landed by trawlers at the C hen n ai F isheries H a rb o u r  is constituted by several families namely, Calappidae, Corystidae, Dorippidae, D rom iidae, Epialtidae, G a le n id a e ,  L eucosiidae, M atu tid ae ,Parthenopidae, P or tu n id ae  and X anthidae etc. Most of the species  recorded from these families possess dazzling colour pattern and distinct morphological features, making them good candidates  for ornam ental/  aquarium purposes.Crabs are mainly categorised into anom urans - with a clearly  evident tail portion and brachyurans or true crabs which lack an obvious tail. Each of these fam ilies has c lear ly  d istinguish ing  features/characters: family Calappidae are b o x -sh a p e d  whereas Parthenopidae usually have a triangular or pentagonal carapacewith lot o f  sp in es .  Dromiidae has convex carapace and genus Arcaiun of the family Leucosidae is characterised by the p re se n c e  of spines on the carapace with fingers longer than the palm . G e n u s  D orippe  of the family Dorippidae is protected by a dead shell, which is held by the posterior pairs of the legs on its back. Xanthidae co n s t i tu te s  the m ost diverse and num erically  abundant family among b ra c h y u ra n s .  Portu nidae has crabs m ostly  o f  com m ercia l  value like Portunus snnguinoleiH us, P. pelagicus, Charybdis feriala , C. lucifern etc.T h e  p a p e r  p resents  brachyuran crabs lan d e d  at C hennai Fisheries H a rb o u r  as p otentia l  species for ornamental/aquarium purposes with photographs of each species in fresh/ original colour.Material and MethodsThe p a p e r  d eals  with the specimens re cord e d  d u r i n g  June 2003-M arch 2008 f r o m  th e  r e g u l a r  w e e k ly  sam pling-  They w e r e  l a n d e d  at the K a s i m e d u ^(Chennai) fisheries h a rb o u r  by trawlers operating between Ongole in south Andhra P ra d e sha n d N a g a p a t in a m  to the so u th  ofChennai from a depth of 10-90 m. The crabs are identified follow ing Sakai (1976),Galil and Clark (1994), G ali l  (1997, 2001 & 2009), Chen and Ng (1999 & 2004), Ng el al. (2000 & 2008), Wee and Ng (1995) and K rishnam oorthy  (2007),Results and DiscussionThirty one b rachyu ran  cra b s  belonging to eleven fam il ies  and twenty one genera are  l is ted  as potential marine ornamental crabs off Chennai. Hence emphasis is given on their spectacular colour, cer ta in  striking patterns on their carapace and chelipeds, size and availab ility .  Portunus san gu in olen tu s, P ortu m is  pelagiciis, Chan/bdis Ittcifera and Chari/bdis feriala are excluded as they have high non-ornamental commercial value.Superclass: Crustacea Pennant, 1777 Class: Malacostraca Latreille, 1806 Subclass: Eum alacostraca, C aim an ,1904Order: DecapodaLntreille, 1803 Suborder: Pleocyemata Burkenroad ,1963Infraorder: BrachyuraLatreille, 1802FamilyCalappidae De Haan, 1833 Calappa calappa (Linnaeus, 1758)Common name: Giant box crab Carapace is d is t in c t ly  b ro a d e r  characterised by the length being less than half of its width. The smooth side expansion of the carapace covers the appendages. Colour: uniformly plain beige with wavy horizontal lines. Size range: 93-121 mm in carapace width (CW). Availability: February.Calappnca pellonis Laurie, 1906 Common name: Box crab front thick and o btu se ly  tru n cate ,  covered with coarse tubercles, hepatic regions depressed. Colour: dark orange to red brown. Size range: 85-130 mm inCW. Availability: January-M arch.hkppa clypenta Boradaile, 1903 Common name: Box crab ■ heir posterior bord er is p ro d u ced  pronouncedly beyond the level of the Posterior margins o f  the c lyp eiform  ^pansions. Colour: greenish yellow. « «  range: 70-85 mm in CW. Availability; January-February.lapomca Ortmann, 1892C om m on name: Japanese box crab C arap ace  is broadly  oval with seven sharp teeth around the free margin of the c ly p e ifo rm  ex p an sio n .  C arapace and  dorsal su rface  o f  che lip ed s  has tu b e r c le s  c o v e re d  w ith  fine, flat granules. Colour: pale brown, granules on carapace and chelipeds surrounded by re d -p in k  p ig m e n te d  rings. S ize ran g e :  65-80 mm in CW .Availability rare .Calappa lophos (Herbst, 1782)C o m m o n  nam e: C o m m o n  box crab/ C ock sco m b  crabCarapace is dome shaped and smooth. Colour: carapace red/brown in colour w ith  w h ite  lines,  th e  c h e l ip e d s  are w hite  with irregular brow n spots and m ark in g s .  Size range: 55-125  mm in CW. Availability: October to December and January  to March.Calappa philargius (Linnaeus, 1758) C o m m o n  name: Spectacled  box crab/ fou r spotted crabPosterior border of carapace is armed w ith  three p ro m in en t  spines ,  one in middle and one on either side. Colour: B o d y  l ig h t  b ro w n  in colour, ch a ra c te r iz e d  by d is t in c t  brown/red spots two on each claw and one around th e  ey e. S ize  rang e:  7 8 -9 5  mm in C W .A vailability : A u gu st.Fam ily  Corystidae Sam ouelle ,  1819 Jon as  iW/c»s(Chopra, 1935)C o m m o n  nam e: M a sk e d  bu rrow in g  c r a bC a r a p a c e  lo n g itu d in a l ly  e l l ip tica l  w ith  the rostra l s p in e s  p ro d u ced  anteriorly beyond the tips of preorbital sp in es .  Legs are  f la tten d ed . Colour: diffused with pale red and white.Size: 28  mm CW. Availability: rare.Fam ily  D orippdiaeM acIeay, 1838 D orippe frascon e  (Herbst, 1785)C o m m o n  nam e. L e a f  p o rter  crab/ U rch in  crabC a r a p a c e  u ne v en ,  a n te ro la te ra l  b o r d e r s  h a sse r ie s  o f  sm a l l  spines/ tubercles. Last two pairs o f  legs with c u r v e d  d a c ty lu s ,  w h ic h  h e lp  in carrying a dead molluscan shell or sea u r c h in .  C o lo u r :  b e ig e  to p in k .S ize  range: 35 to 45 mm in CW. Availability: th rou g h o u t the year.Family Dromiidae De Haan, 1833^ C onchoecetes nrliftciosus (Fabricius, 1798) C om m o n  name: Sponge crab S u r f a c e  o f  c a r a p a c e  is  v e lv e ty  and p e n ta g o n a l  in s h a p e .  C o lo u r :  dark b ro w n  w ith  pink to p u rp l ish  tinge. Size: sm all,28-32 mm CW .A vailab il i ty :FISHING CHIM ES Vol. 33 No. A I July 2013sporadic.Lnnridromia dehnnni (Rathbun, 1923) Com m on name: Japanese sponge crab C arapace is longer than broad. They usually carry a piece of sponge with its last two pairs of legs. Colour: brown in colour with tip of claws pink. Size range: 63-90 mm in CW. Availability: usually  during November.Family EpialtidaeMacLeay, 1838 Doclea canalifera Stimpson, 1857 C om m on name: Spider crab Carapace has three spines in midline, la s t  one being p rom inent and h o r iz o n ta l ly  prod u ced  backwards Anterolateral border armed with four spines, last one being largest. Colour: dark  brow n in colour. Size range:28-31.5 mm in CW. Availability: August to October.D od ea  ovis (Fabricius, 1787)Com m on name: Spider crab C a ra p a ce  w ithout sp ine in midline, b ra n c h ia l  region has three short sp in e s  on the antero la tera l margin, last of which very small tuberculiform. C olour: brown.Size range: 30-38 mm in C W .A vailab ili ty :  O ctober  toN ovem ber.Phalmigipus hi/strix (Miers, 1886) Com m on name: Long legged crab Appendages are very slender and long w ith  two rostral spines armed with su b d ista l  accessory spinule. Colour; pale brown. Size range: 39-46 mm in CW. A vailability : N ovem berDecember.Fam ily  GalenidaeAlcock, 1898 G ak n e bispinosa (Herbst, 1783)Com m on name: Square shelled crab C a ra p a c e  is p e n ta g on a l ,  smooth, anterolateral border indistinctly four lobed two being distinct.Colour: tan to purplish tan. Size range: 3 5 -1 1 0  m m  in CW. A vailability : throughout the year.Family- Leucosiidae Samouelle, 1819 Arcania elongata Yokoya, 1933 C a r a p a c e  is c ircu lar  and covered s p a r s e ly  with u n iform  sized tubercles.Eleven spines present in the c ’rcum ference of carapace, the one in the m id d le  o f  p o s te r io r  bord er  the lo n g e s t .C o lo u r :  pale  p in kish .  Size ra n g e :  30 to 40 m m  in CW.Availability.-rare.Lupl'irii perpk’xa Galil, 2009 C om m on  name: Pebble crab C a r a p a c e  convex and su bglobu lar^gFISHING CHIMES Vol. 33 No. 4 / July 2013su rface  is sm ooth and polished. Colour: orange brown. Size range: 21.5- 25 mm in CW.Availability: August to November.Pariliaa Icocki Wood-mason, 1891 Common name: Pebble crab Carapace is circular, finely granulated, but smooth to the naked eye. Chelipeds are slender and very long. Palm more than twice the length of fingers. Colour; orange red. Size range:40-65 mm in CW, Availability: December to March.Family: Matutidae De Haan, 1838 Ashtoret linmris (Forskal, 1775) Com m on name: Spotted moon crab/ yellow moon crabEach side of carapace is with long projection or spine. All the legs are flattened for swimming and digging. Colour: Yellowish pink with brown dots on carapace. Size range- 25-85 mm in CW.Availability: June-Septem ber and January-March.M atuta plnmpes Fabricius, 1798 C om m on name: R eticulated moon crab/flower moon crab F ront distinctly wider than orbit. C olour: dark green with closely arranged maroon edged circles on carapace, paddle shaped legs bright yellow with dark markings near the end. Size range: 40-55 mm in CW. Availability: June-September.Family ParthenopidaeMacLeay, 1838 Cryptopodia /ormco/rt(Fabricius, 1787) Common name: Buckler crab/domed elbow crabC arap ace  is convex, sharply pentagonal with very large vaulted expansions which completely conceal the legs. Colour: creamy beige. Size: 42 mm CW. Availability: rare.Enoplolam bruse chinatus (Herbst, 1790)Common name: Elbow crab Carapace and chelipeds are covered with low depressed tubercles. Colour: brown. Size range: 21.4-25 mm in CW. Availability: August.Parthenope longimnnus (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Long armed crab Carapace and chelipeds are covered with rather sharp tubercles and their median rostral process is thin. Colour: reddish  to light brow n.S ize  range: 22.5-30 mm in CW. Availability: July to November.Family Portunidae Rafinesque, 1815 Charybdis iiatator(H eibst, 1794) C om m on name: Ridged swimming crabC arap ace  is marked w ith  severaltransverse granulated ridges. C helipeds are con sid erab ly  strong , covered  with tubercles. C olou r:  carapace brown with the granulated ridges and tubercles bright red. Size range: 25-120 mm in CW. Availability: throughout the year.Charybdis (Goiiiohellenits) hoplites (Wood- Mason, 1877)Colour: carapace is brownish in colour and the chelipeds have cream coloured markings. Size range: 55-95 mm in CW. Availability: October.Charybdis grannlntii (De Haan, 1833) They are comparatively small in size, the posterior border of the dorsum of carapace is straight and the chelipeds are m uch longer than the carapace . Colour: mosaic green, m ottled  with brown, fingers blackish.Size range: 28- 54 mm.Availability: sporadic.Podophthalmus vigil Fabricius, 1798 Common name: Long eyed swimming crabCarapace is smooth, broader than long. They have very long e y e s ta lk  that extends alm ost as m uch as the carapace width. Colour: dark green. Size range: 85-110 mm in CW. Availability: almost throu ghou t the year.Portunits (Mononiia) argentatus cirgentatus (A. Milne Edwards, 1861)A brown/black spot p re sen t  on dactylus of the last appendage. The crest of the second abdominal segment and propodus of cheliped are  very p rom inent w ith  s i lveryappearance.Colour: pale brow n with raised regions of carapace dark brown. Size range: 55-105 mm in CW. Availability: throughout the year.Portunus (Mononiia) gladiatorFabricius, 1798It lacks the spot on the dactylus of moving legs. The crest of the second abdominal segment and propodus of cheliped are moderately prom inent. Colour: pale brown. Size range: 55-102 mm in CW. Availability: throughout the year.Family- XanthidaeMacLeay, 1838 Demania baccalipes(A\cock,l898) Common name: Demon crab Anterior border of the ambulatory legs with wart like tubercles and the carapace and chelipeds are covered with large depressed tubercles. Colour: red with green patches. Size range: 60- 95 mm in CW. Availability: rare.Demania armadilius (Herbst, 1790) Common name: Stone crabAnterior border of the ambulatory legs is c res ted  and the carapace and ch e lip ed s  are  covered with smooth d ep resse d  tu bercles .  Colour: pale brow n w ith  dark brown/maroon on anterior part of carapace. Size range: small, 25-32 mm in CW. Availability: rare.Liagore rubroniaculata(De Haan, 1835) Com m on nam e; Brown spotted crab F ro n t  is fa in t ly  bilobed. Colour: C arap ace  l ig h t  brown with reddish spots and legs are with red bands. Size range: 32-48  mm in CW.Availability: June -  September.T he crab s  are marketed at very nominal rate as raw material for fish/ pou ltry  m eal and fertiliser preparation . Their capture from the wild may have detrimental impact as they are an im portant entity in the n a tu ra l  ecosystem . Hence for aquarium/ornamental purpose, they should  b e  reared and suitable protocols developed for larval rearing as depending only on the wild can lead to in c re a s e d  exploitation  also. Unfortunately for most of these species, larval development is unknown. Most of the crabs form association with hard and soft corals, echinoderms, sponges and molluscs regarding which further s tu d ie s  a re  needed . T hese  ignored species can attain the status of highly valued crustaceans in the aquarium in d u stry  if cu ltu re  techniques arc standardised and behavioural pattern studied. T h e  m arine segm ent of the aq u ariu m  trade indu stry  stillpredominantly relies on wild collected specimens, with over 90% of the traded species being taken from coral reefs (TIusty, 2002).Acknowledgem entThe authors thank Mr. M. Kathirvel (Retd. P r in c ip a l  Sc ien tis t) ,  Central Institu te  of Brack ishw aterAquaculture for his help in specimen identification.ReferencesCHEN, H.L and P.K.L. NG. 1999.Crabs of the Demaniarotundatn  species group (Crustacea:Decapoda:Brachyura) from east and south China seas with description of a new species. The Raffles Bulletin o f  Zoo/ogy.47(l):139-153.CHEN, H.Land P.K.L. NG. 2004. On two new species of spider crabs of the genus Doclea (Crustacea:Decapoda:Brachyura:Majidae:Pisinae) from Chino, one of which is new. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoo(ogt/.52(1):201-208.GALIL, B.S. and P.F. CLARK.1994. Arevision of the genus MflfutoWeber, 1795 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Calappidae). Zool. Verh. Leiden. 294, l.IX.1-55.GALIL, B.S .1997. Crustacea Decapoda: A revision of the Indo-Padfic species of the genus Calappa Weber, 1795 (Calappidae) In: Crosnier (ed.), Resultats des campagnes Musostom, Vol.18. Mein. Mi/s. Midi. Hist. nut.,176: 271-335.GALIL, B.S. 2001. A revision of the genus Arcania Leach, 1817 (Crustacea:Decapoda:Leucosiidea). Zool.Calappa calappaCalappa japonica Calappa lophosCalappa clypeataMed. Leiden.75(11), 24.XII, 169-206.GALIL, B.S. 2009.An examination of the genus Phtlyra Leach, 1817 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Leucosiidae) with descriptions of s e v e r  new genera and six new species.Zoosysfema .31 (2 ): 279-320K R ISH N A M O O RTH Y, P. 2007. Brachyura. Fauna o f  Chennai c o a s t  83 109 Ec°S}/Stem Series' 1- Zool.Sum India:NG, P.K.L, T.Y. CHAN and C.H. WANG. 2000. The crabs of the families Dromiidae,FISHINGRam nidae, Corystidae and Palicidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) of Taiwan. National Taiwan special publication. Series No.l0:155-180NG, P.K.L., D. GUINOT, D and P.J.F. DAVIE. 2008. SystemaBrachyurorum: Part I. An annotated checklist of extant brachyuran crabs of the world.The Raffles Bulletin ofZoology.17:1-286.TLUSTY, M. 2002. The benefits and risks of aquacultural production for the aquarium tTade.Aquaculture, 205: 203-219.CHIMES Vol. 33 No. 4 / July 2013Calappa philargiuslonas mdicusLauridromta dehaaniGalene bispinosaDorippc frasconcDodea ovis Lyphira preplexaD odea canaliferaArcania elongataConchoecetes artificiosusPhalangipus ItyslrixParilia alcocki

Potential Ornamental Marine Brachyuran

Crabs available off Chennai

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Potential Ornamental Marine Brachyuran Crabs available off Chennai

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