The carcinofauna from marine and coastal environments from the southeast and southern Bahia, Brazil, is so far poorly known. The objective of this study was to survey decapod crustaceans occurring along the estuarine environments of Ilhéus, located on the southeast coast of Bahia (14 o 47'55"S, 39 o 02'01"W). Samplings were carried out from February 2001 to February 2005, covering supratidal, intertidal and subtidal habitats. Voucher specimens were fixed in ethanol 70% and deposited in the collection of Crustacea of the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus (MZUESC). We report a total of 51 species, belonging to 14 families. The most representative family concerning the number of species was Ocypodidae, represented in our samples by 8 species. Geographic range known for the species Alpheus heterochaelis (Caridea: Alpheidae), Merguia rhizophorae (Caridea: Hippolytidae) and Sesarma curacaoense (Brachyura: Sesarmidae) was enlarged. The IndoPacific portunid crab Charybdis hellerii was recorded for the Cachoeira river estuary. The results indicate a high species richness of decapod crustaceans in the estuarine environments of Ilhéus.

Abstract:A total of 117 species of freshwater decapod crustaceans are known from Brazil. Knowledge regarding the fauna of Decapoda from inland waters in the state of Bahia, northeast Brazil, is incipient. In spite of its wide territory and rich hydrographic net, only 13 species of limnetic decapods have been reported from that state. The objective of this contribution was to survey decapod crustaceans of some hydrographic basins in southeastern Bahia