Life-history, movement, and habitat use of Scylla serrata (Decapoda, Portunidae): current knowledge and future challenges

Abstract

The mud crab Scylla serrata is a highly exploited species, associated to mangrove ecosystems in the Indo-West-Pacific. It has a complex life cycle with a dispersing larvae phase, and benthic juveniles and adults. The former are stenohaline depending on high-salinity conditions to survive, whereas the latter are physiologically well adapted to changing temperatures and salinities, conditions that typically occur in mangrove habitats. Movement and habitat use of large juveniles and adults are well studied, and these life stages are known to utilize and move between various habitats within the mangrove ecosystem: intertidal flats as well as subtidal channels and flats. Females undertake long movements from brackish inshore waters to waters with oceanic conditions for spawning. Sensory abilities-of early stages and adult stageshave hardly been studied, and little is known about larval and early benthic stages in the wild. Summarizing, the literature revealed substantial gaps in the understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the different life stages and of the clues that trigger recruitment, movement, and other behavior. This is the first comprehensive review on the life history, movement patterns, habitat use, and systemic role of S. serrata with emphasis on the respective life stages and geographic differences. We emphasize the need for further research into these processes as a basis for the sustainable management and conservation of this species.

Non-indigenous giant mud crab, Scylla serrata (Forskål, 1775) (Crustacea: Brachyura: Portunidae) in Malaysian coastal waters: a call for caution

“…The discovery of S. serrata in Malaysian coastal waters is unprecedented. It was reviewed by Alberts-Hubatsch et al (2015) that despite their wide geographical distribution, S. serrata has never been reported in Malaysian waters after the division of genus Scylla into four species. The species composition of mud crab population in Malaysian waters is predominantly made up of S. olivacea, with S. tranquebarica and S. paramamosain being frequently found in smaller numbers (Ikhwanuddin et al 2011;).…”

“…The global capture fishery production of mud crab is approximately 38,000 t in the year 2014 (FAO, 2016). Mud crabs are highly adaptable to various environments due to their ability to tolerate broad ranges of temperature (16-35°C) and salinity (1-56 ppt) (Alberts-Hubatsch et al 2015). They also show movement up to an average of 3.7 km for foraging purposes (Hyland et al 1984).…”

“…Scylla serrata is the largest and most widespread species of genus Scylla (Keenan et al 1998;Alberts-Hubatsch et al 2015). Scylla serrata has been reported in most tropical and subtropical coastal regions of Indo-West-Pacific such as Bangladesh (Begum et al 2009), India (Ali et al 2011), Sri Lanka (Tharmine et al 2014;Amarasekara et al 2016), Indonesia (Roza and Hatai 1999;Nordhaus et al 2009), Philippines (Baylon et al 2004;Quinitio et al 2007), Australia (Keenan et al 1998) and around the oceanic islands of Indo-Pacific (Alberts-Hubatsch et al 2015), except around South China Sea (Albert-Hubatsch et al 2015;Fazhan et al 2017). Prior to the revision of genus Scylla by Keenan et al (1998), the species identification of mud crabs within the genus Scylla has been controversial and only one species, S. serrata, was being recognized (Stephenson and Campbell 1960).…”

Drones detect illegal and derelict crab traps in a shallow water estuary

“…Crab species in estuarine habitats are at high risk of being targeted by illegal fishing because they offer good financial incentives, are often an easily accessible resource and require little gear investment to harvest (Butcher, Leland, Broadhurst, Paterson & Mayer, ; Petrossian, Weis & Pires, ; Petrossian, ). The giant mud crab, Scylla serrata (Forsskål), and the blue‐swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus (L.), are two examples of economic and socially important estuarine species in many tropical and subtropical regions across the Indo‐West‐Pacific (Mgaya & Chande, ; Le Vay et al., ; Mirera, Ochiewo, Munyi & Muriuki, ; Alberts‐Hubatsch et al., ). Due to rapid increases in market demand, fishing effort for these crabs (using baited traps) across their range has drastically increased over the last few decades (Mirera, ; Alberts‐Hubatsch et al., ).…”

“…The giant mud crab, Scylla serrata (Forsskål), and the blue‐swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus (L.), are two examples of economic and socially important estuarine species in many tropical and subtropical regions across the Indo‐West‐Pacific (Mgaya & Chande, ; Le Vay et al., ; Mirera, Ochiewo, Munyi & Muriuki, ; Alberts‐Hubatsch et al., ). Due to rapid increases in market demand, fishing effort for these crabs (using baited traps) across their range has drastically increased over the last few decades (Mirera, ; Alberts‐Hubatsch et al., ). The subsequent need to manage this fishery properly has led to protected areas and fisheries limitations in some areas, particularly in Australia (Butcher et al., ; Leland, Butcher, Broadhurst, Paterson & Mayer, ; Rotherham, Johnson, Macbeth & Gray, ).…”