First distributional record of Carupella banlaensis from India

ABSTRACT

The present study describes a new record of the rare portunid crab Carupella banlaensis from Goa, along the central west coast of India, based on carapace and appendage morphology and provides detailed morphometric measurements of two immature female specimens. Carupella banlaensis differs from its congeners in possessing less prominent median and lateral frontal lobes, the first eight anterolateral teeth alternating large and small and bluntly triangular, the cheliped merus with three large spines on the anterior margin and one distal spine on the posterior margin. Previously known only from the Gulf of Tonkin (China) and Somalia, the present observation of this crab is a new record for the entire South Asian region.

KEYWORDS:

• Brachyura
• Carupella
• Portunidae
• redescription
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

We are highly indebted to Professor Daniele Guinot for forwarding the rare references.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful to the Ballast Water Management Program, India executed by the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa for Directorate General of Shipping, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India.