Diversity and new records of intertidal hermit crabs of the genus Clibanarius (Crustacea: Decapoda: Diogenidae) from Gujarat coast off the northern Arabian Sea, with two new records for the mainland Indian coastline

Abstract

The present study reports seven hermit crab species of the genus Clibanarius, viz., C. infraspinatus, C. longitarsus, C. rhabdodactylus, C. rutilus, C. signatus, C. virescens, and C. zebra, from the intertidal zone of Gujarat State on the west coast of India. With the exception of C. zebra, the remaining six species are the first records from the west coast of India, and two species, C. rutilus and C. rhabdodactylus are new records from mainland India. All the recorded species were found inhabiting rocky, sandy and muddy intertidal habitats. We have appended the diagnostic descriptions and live coloration of all species based on the observations of our voucher specimens. Comments are provided where they differ slightly from the published records of that species, enriching the available identification keys for the intertidal hermit crabs of the Indian Ocean.

Keywords

• anomura
• diversity
• hermit crabs
• first records
• gujarat coast
• intertidal.