First record of the cliff crab Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) (Decapoda: Plagusiidae) from the coast of Sergipe, Brazil

ABSTRACT

The cliff crab Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) is recorded for the first time from the state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil. This new record fills the gap in the species distribution between Pernambuco (8°S) and Bahia (12°S).

Keywords
Distribution; biodiversity; carcinofauna; jetties; NE Brazil

The cliff crab Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775), commonly known as “aratu-da-pedra” or “espichado”, has an amphi-Atlantic distribution and inhabits fissures and crevices of rocks, corals, tide pools and jetties (Melo, 1996; Coelho et al., 2004; Almeida and Carvalho, 2014). This species is also often seen clinging to drifting debris, buoys, oil platforms, and ship hulls (Schubart et al., 2001; Almeida and Carvalho, 2014).

Along the Brazilian coast the species was previously recorded from the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Bahia as well as from the oceanic islands of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, and Trindade (Melo,1996; Coelho et al., 2008; Almeida and Carvalho, 2014).

In April 2015, three individuals were caught at a jetty in Atalaia Nova Beach, municipality of Barra dos Coqueiros, state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil (10°57’13”S 37°01’48”W). Each individual was measured for carapace width (CW) and carapace length (CL), stored in ethanol 70% and deposited in the Carcinological Collection of the ‘Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica’ at Universidade Federal de Sergipe (NEP-CRUST).

SYSTEMATICS

Family Plagusiidae Dana, 1851

Plagusia depressa ( Fabricius, 1775 )

(Fig. 1)

Figure 1
Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775), male CL=37.80 mm and CW 40.10 mm from Atalaia Nova Beach, municipality of Barra dos Coqueiros, state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil (NEP-CRUST 0029). Scale bar: 2 cm.

Material examined. Two males (CW 40.10 and 55.80 mm; CL 37.80 and 52.10 mm) and one ovigerous female (CW 43.30 mm; CL 41.50 mm) (NEP-CRUST 0028-0030), Atalaia Nova Beach, Barra dos Coqueiros, Sergipe, NE Brazil (Fig. 2), iv.2015, coll. R.B. dos Santos.

Figure 2
Sampling area of Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) in Sergipe: A) Location of the jetty of Atalaia Nova Beach, municipality of Barra dos Coqueiros; B) Jetty of Atalaia Nova; C) Plagusia depressa in its natural habitat.

Remarks. According to Melo (1996) and Almeida and Carvalho (2014), P. depressa occurs from Ceará to Bahia. However, this species has never been recorded in Alagoas and Sergipe. Thus, P. depressa is herein recorded for the first time from the state of Sergipe (10°S), filling a gap in the knowledge of the species distribution between the states of Pernambuco (8°S) and Bahia (12°S). This species is commonly harvested by artisanal fishermen along the coast of Pernambuco (Freitas and Santos, 2002; Coelho et al., 2004; Freitas and Santos, 2007). However, P. depressa seems not to form large populations in Sergipe, probably due to the absence of suitable habitat for this species. Indeed, the coast of Sergipe is mainly composed of sandy beaches without coral reefs or rocky habitats, except for the presence of a few artificial rocky structures such as the jetty where the species was collected (Fig. 2B). These jetties were built to stabilize both margins of the Sergipe River mouth ca. 30 years ago. However, during field trips carried out at both sides of the river mouth, the presence of P. depressa was confirmed only at the jetty of Atalaia Nova (north side). Factors controlling the species distribution and estimates of population size in the coast of Sergipe deserve further investigations.

REFERENCES

• Almeida, A.O. and Carvalho, F.L. 2014. On the southern limit of distribution of the crab Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) (Brachyura: Plagusiidae) along the continental Brazilian coast. Check List, 10: 1502-1503.
• Coelho, P.A.; Almeida, A.O. and Bezerra, L.E.A. 2008. Checklist of the marine and estuarine Brachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda) of northern and northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa, 1956: 1-58.
• Coelho, P.A.; Santos, M.C.F. and Freitas, A.E.T.S. 2004. Crescimento do aratu-da-pedra, Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Plagusiidae), em Tamandaré - Pernambuco. Boletim Técnico-Científico do CEPENE, 12: 73-79.
• Dana, J.D. 1851. Conspectus Crustaceorum quæ in Orbis Terrarum circumnavigatione, Carolo Wilkes e Classe Reipublicæ Foederatæ Duce, lexit et descripsit. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 5: 247-254.
• Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Flensburgi & Lipsiae: Korte, xxvii + 832p.
• Freitas, A.E.T. & Santos, M.C.F. 2002. Aspectos ecológicos do aratu-da-pedra Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) (Crustacea, Brachyura, Grapsidae) ao largo de Tamandaré (Pernambuco - Brasil). Boletim Técnico-Científico do CEPENE, 10: 187-206.
• Freitas, A.E.T. & Santos, M.C.F. 2007. Aspectos da biologia pesqueira do aratu-da-pedra Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) (Crustacea, Brachyura, Plagusiidae) capturado em Tamandaré (Pernambuco - Brasil). Boletim Técnico-Científico do CEPENE, 15: 39-46.
• Melo, G.A.S. 1996. Manual de Identificação dos Brachyura (Caranguejos e Siris) do Litoral Brasileiro. São Paulo, Editora Plêiade, 603 p.
• Schubart, C.D.; González-Gordillo, J.I.; Reyns, N.B.; Liu, H.-C. and Cuesta, J.B. 2001. Are Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations of the rafting crab Plagusia depressa (Fabricius), distinct? New evidence from larval morphology and mtDNA. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 49: 301-310.

• ZOOBANK

  http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7B0B9C00-24F3-4149-B95F-DBD6ED249022

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  03 Dec 2018
• Date of issue
  2018

History

• Received
  05 Aug 2018
• Accepted
  23 Oct 2018