The freshwater crab genera Ghatiana Pati &amp; Sharma, Gubernatoriana Bott, <br />and Inglethelphusa Bott (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae) revisited, with descriptions of a new genus and eleven new species

Abstract

The taxonomy of three morphologically related and endemic genera of the northern Western Ghats (Ghatiana Pati &amp; Sharma, 2014, Gubernatoriana Bott, 1970, and Inglethelphusa Bott, 1970) is re-assessed to accommodate several new taxa. We describe a new genus, Sahyadriana gen. nov. and its five new species [S. billyarjani sp. nov., S. pachyphallus sp. nov., S. sahyadriensis sp. nov. (type species), S. tenuiphallus sp. nov., and S. woodmasoni sp. nov.]. Additionally, three new species each of Ghatiana (Gh. botti sp. nov., Gh. pulchra sp. nov., and Gh. rathbunae sp. nov.) and Gubernatoriana (Gu. longipes sp. nov., Gu. marleshwarensis sp. nov., and Gu. wallacei sp. nov.) are described. Five species previously in Gubernatoriana are now transferred to Sahyadriana gen. nov., viz. S. alcocki (Pati in Pati, Thackeray &amp; Khaire, 2016) comb. nov., S. pilosipes (Alcock, 1909) comb. nov., S. thackerayi (Pati in Pati, Thackeray &amp; Khaire, 2016) comb. nov., S. triangulus (Pati &amp; Sharma, 2014) comb. nov., and S. waghi (Pati in Pati, Thackeray &amp; Khaire, 2016) comb. nov. Gubernatoriana basalticola Klaus, Fernandez &amp; Yeo, 2014, is transferred to Ghatiana. Inglethelphusa is still proved to be monotypic. Consequently, Ghatiana now contains eight species, three of which are new; Gubernatoriana, four species, including three new species; Inglethelphusa, one species; and Sahyadriana gen. nov., ten species, including five new species. Sahyadriana pilosipes is rediscovered more than a century after its description. All these genera can be separated from other Indian gecarcinucid crabs by the absence of a flagellum on the exopod of the third maxilliped and a very short G2. The relevant identification keys are revised. Currently, 120 species of freshwater crabs under 35 genera and two families are found in India. Kerala is the most species-rich (35 species) state in India followed by Maharashtra (29 species) and Assam (21 species). The Western Ghats of India now includes 17 genera and 58 species of gecarcinucid crabs. A checklist and distribution of Indian freshwater crabs is provided.

New records of two species of freshwater crabs (Decapoda: Gecarcinucidae) from Kerala, India, with notes on their distribution

“…It was recorded from the Western Ghats at the Bannerghatta National Park of Bangalore Urban district, Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Chamarajanagar district, and Hosur of Uttara Kannada district (see Srivastava, 2007;2013;Pati and Sharma, 2014). The species, however, was never included in the Western Ghats fauna (see Pati and Thackeray, 2018). The present specimens of O. wagrakarowensis from Wayanad district of Kerala, therefore, constitute the first reliable report of the species from the Western Ghats.…”

“…With the addition of these two new records, Kerala has 37 species of gecarcinucid crabs, including four species of Oziotelphusa Müller, 1887 and six species of Vanni Bahir and Yeo, 2007. The Western Ghats of India is now known to have 59 freshwater crab species in 18 genera (Pati and Thackeray, 2018).…”

“…Indian states. The state was hitherto represented by 35 species in 14 genera of gecarcinucid crabs among 122 Indian species of freshwater crabs (Rajesh et al, 2017;Mitra et al, 2018;Pati and Thackeray, 2018;Mitra and Waikhom, 2019). The Western Ghats of Kerala is home to 27 species out of 58 species of freshwater crabs reported from the Western Ghats of India (Rajesh et al, 2017).…”

Morphotaxonomic Review for Conserving Liotelphusa Laevis (Wood-Mason, 1871) (Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae), A Near Threatened Freshwater Crab from North East India

“…Till date, this species has been reported from Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and West Bengal (Mitra 2017;Pati and Thackeray 2018) (Fig. 4).…”

“…Similarly, in southern parts of India Barytelphusa cunicularis is a common freshwater crab and its distribution extends from Himachal Pradesh in the North to Kerala in the South (Pati and Sharma 2014). In India, 120 species of freshwater crabs have been reported from different geographical regions and among these 38 species are reported from North East India (Pati and Thackeray, 2018). The IUCN red data list revealed that most of these crabs of North East India are in data deficient condition and some of them are 'least concern' in the context of conservation scale (Cumberlidge et al 2009) where reportedly Liotelphusa quadratic and Phricotelphusa elegans are in vulnerable condition and Maydelliathelphusa falcidigitis, Liotelphusa gageii, and Liotelphusa laevis are considered as near threatened (Mitra 2017).…”