Review of the mudflat varunid crab genus Metaplax (Crustacea, Brachyura, Varunidae) from East Asia and northern Vietnam

Abstract

Intertidal mudflat crabs of the genus Metaplax H. Milne Edwards, 1852 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Varunidae) from China, Taiwan, and northern Vietnam are taxonomically revised by morphological and molecular evidence. These crabs show sexual dimorphism and morphological variation of a considerable range in the infraorbital ridge, one of the primary features previously used for species identification. In this study, four species were identified from the region: M. elegans De Man, 1888; M. longipes Stimpson, 1858; M. sheni Gordon, 1930; and M. tredecim Tweedie, 1950. Based on the results of the morphological examination, and as confirmed by molecular evidence from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), taxonomic confusion surrounding M. longipes was resolved, and M. takahasii Sakai, 1939, is considered a junior synonym of M. longipes. The geographical distribution of Metaplax longipes extends along the shores of China, north to Jiangsu, whereas the Southeast Asian M. tredecim was newly recorded from northern Vietnam and Hong Kong.