Diversity of coral-associated pit crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Cryptochiridae) from Hong Kong, with description of two new species of Lithoscaptus A. Milne-Edwards, 1862

Frontiers in Marine Science

Marine Science

Yao-Feng Tsao¹  Benny K. K. Chan¹  Kingsley J. H. Wong²  Jian-Wen Qiu³ 

[1] Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan;Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan;Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;

关键词: gall crabs;    coral associates;    scleractinian coral;    biodiversity;    West Pacific;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmars.2022.1003321

 received in 2022-07-26, accepted in 2022-10-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Highly specialized cryptochirid crabs are obligate symbionts of scleractinian corals in tropical and subtropical seas. General morphologies of cryptochirid crabs remain poorly described due to their small size and difficulties in collection; thus, the current inventory is probably an underestimation. In the present study, we sampled cryptochirid crabs from coral communities in Hong Kong. In the literature, only Cryptochirus hongkongensis (now Neotroglocarcinus hongkongensis) with unknown hosts had been recorded in Hong Kong since 1936. In addition to morphological examination, identification in the present study is further supported by sequence divergence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and 16S ribosomal DNA markers. Six operative taxonomic units (OTUs), representing four species and one species complex with two species, were revealed among our material: Cryptochirus coralliodytes, Lithoscaptus paradoxus, Lithoscaptus doughnut sp. nov., Lithoscaptus scottae sp. nov., and Xynomaia sheni species complex. Morphological description of these species is provided, including description of the two new pseudocryptic species. The hosts of the genus Lithoscaptus belong largely to the Merulinidae, while L. doughnut sp. nov. inhabits the Plesiastreidae.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Wong, Tsao, Qiu and Chan