Short Communication First record of ghost shrimp Corallianassa coutierei (Nobili, 1904) (Decapoda: Axiidea: Callichiridae) from Indian waters

A Callichiridae ghost shrimp species Corallianassa coutierei (Nobili, 1904) is recorded and described here for the first time from the Indian waters. Formerly, five species under the family Callichiridae were recorded from different coastal waters of India. In addition, C. coutierei was infested with several copepods. Additional description of C. coutierei with key characters and distribution status is given for this species. A comprehensive checklist of the infraorder Axiidea is prepared based on previous records from Indian waters.

The ghost shrimp genus Corallianassa was described by Manning in 1987 from America (family: Callianassidae Dana, 1852). The genus Corallianassa comprises 13 species in the World (WoRMS 2020c). A scrutiny of literature pertaining to ghost shrimps of Indian waters revealed that the genus Corallianassa is hitherto not reported from Indian waters. Therefore, the present taxon, including the genus is the first report from Indian waters.
Ghost shrimp can be the host for copepods. The cavity between the shell and body of the ghost shrimp can be a favourable site for these associated arthropods. Only a few accounts on the copepods of ghost shrimps have been described and recorded worldwide (Pillai 1959;Corsetti & Strasserm 2003;Kihara & Rocham 2013;Sepahvand et al. 2017aSepahvand et al. ,b, 2019. From India Pillai (1959) (Wilson 1935(Wilson , 1937Pearse 1947;Humes 1949;Pillai 1959). In this study, C. coutierei infested with copepods (Clausidium sp.) on the carapace region (Image 3b) can be either parasitic or symbiotic, although all the clausidiid copepods are categerised as parasitic upon different species of Corallianassa (Wilson 1935). Hence, this study reports Corallianassa genus infested with copepods for the first time from Indian waters.

Materials and Methods
The present study was carried out at Goose reef (22. 498N & 69.808E) in the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat (Image 1). Intertidal area of the Island is having a sandy shore, rocky shore, and coral reefs. Goose reef is under tremendous anthropogenic pressure of various industries which have constructed their offshore terminals. A single live specimen was collected, which was hidden in the sandy zone of the island. The collected specimen was transferred to the laboratory of Fisheries Research Station, Junagadh Agricultural University, Sikka. Identification was carried out through standard literature of (Man 1905;Ngoc-Ho 2005;Dworschak 2018) and communication with experts.
Size of the specimen is indicated by carapace length (cl) measured from the tip of the rostrum to the midpoint of the posterodorsal margin of the carapace and the total length (tl) measured from the tip of the rostrum to the midpoint of the posterodorsal margin of the telson. A comprehensive checklist was compiled and prepared based on previous literatures and publications of an infraorder Axiidea from Indian waters (Table 1).

Results
We report the ghost shrimp C. coutierei (Nobili, 1904) along with an associated species of copepod Clausidium Kossmann, 1874 for the first time in Indian waters (Image 2c,d). A comprehensive checklist of an Infraorder Axiidea listed a total of 19 species belonging to five families and 16 genera with distribution status in Indian waters is provided (Table 1). Maximum species were reported belonging to the family Callichiridae (six genera, six species) followed by Axiidae (four genera, six species), Callianassidae (four genera, five species), Callianideidae (one genus, one species), and Callianopsidae (one genus, one species).
India: This species is reported from Goose reef, Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat (present study).

Conclusion
From India, with regards to family Callichiridae, six species are recorded, namely, Audacallichirus audax (de Man, 1911), Balsscallichirus masoomi (Tirmizi, 1970), Karumballichirus karumba (Poore & Griffin, 1979), Michaelcallianassa indica K. Sakai, 2002, Neocallichirus jousseaumei (Nobili, 1904, and Corallianassa coutierei (Nobili, 1904) (present study) ( Table 1). The present investigation reports the occurrence of C. coutierei in association with Clausidium for the first time from the Indian waters. The longer duration of their relationship inclines to assume that they might be in symbiotic association. Further detailed research is required to understand the relationship of copepods (either symbiotic or parasitic). Study is also required on ghost shrimps pertaining to diversity, life history, ecology which are still lacking in India. Molecular analysis of copepods and ghost shrimps can be performed to understand their range of extension towards the Indian waters.  www.threatenedtaxa.org The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservation globally by publishing peer-reviewed articles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All articles published in JoTT are registered under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License unless otherwise mentioned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of articles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.