First occurrence of two crab species, Actaea calculosa (Milne Edwards, 1834) and Atergatis integerrimus (Lamarck, 1801), family Xanthidae in Iraqi coast waters

M. Karim Et Al., Rafid

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2022.229831

First occurrence of two crab species, Actaea calculosa (Milne Edwards, 1834) and Atergatis integerrimus (Lamarck, 1801), family Xanthidae in Iraqi coast waters

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Rafid M. Karim et al.

10.21608/ejabf.2022.229831

Abstract

The crab Actaea calculosa (Edwards, 1834), belonging to family Xanthidae (Macleay, 1838) has been recorded in many coastal waters worldwide. In the shallow waters of the southern side of the Persian-Arab Gulf, another crab species, Atergatis integerrimus (Lamarck, 1801), of the same family was detected. Those two crab species were addressed in the current study. During the study period (12 January - 19 June 2019), crab specimens were collected from Al-Faw city at the intertidal and subtidal zones in the southern part of Shatt Al-Arab Estuary. Diagnostic features of both species were reported. The description of the latter species is close to that of A. roseus from the coastal waters of India and the Red sea, while it remarkably differs in the anterolateral margin shape of the carapace. The study aimed to increase the knowledge of the diversity of the marine fauna in the Iraqi coast waters, filling the gap in the data documented. In addition, this work would enhance our understanding of the fauna of this area and define the diversity and the distribution of these species and other crab species along the subtidal zone of the Iraqi coast waters.

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