Varying colour pattern, yet genetically similar: Pebble Crab Seulocia vittata (Stimpson, 1858) (Brachyura: Leucosiidae) from the southeastern coast of India

Main Article Content

Sanjeevi Prakash
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9665-3249
Amit Kumar

Abstract

Five adult specimens of leucosiid crab Seulocia vittata (Stimpson, 1858) were recently collected off the coast of Palk Bay, southern India.  Typical morphological examination revealed the presence of two colour patterns: grey and red.  Interestingly, molecular analysis based on the barcoding gene cytochrome oxidase sub unit I (COI) revealed that both grey and red colour patterns in S. vittata showed 0% sequence divergence between the specimens.  This indicates a situation of reverse cryptic behavior in this crab.  Surprisingly, the evolutionary and ecological processes leading to the absence of genetic divergence and variation in morphology (colour pattern) in S. vittata complex remain to be addressed. 


 

Article Details

Section
Communications
Author Biographies

Sanjeevi Prakash, Centre for Climate Change Studies, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Jeppiaar Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600119, India.

Currently working as a Scientist at the Centre for Climate Change Studies, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai

Amit Kumar, Centre for Climate Change Studies, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Jeppiaar Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600119, India.

Centre for Climate Change Studies

References

Alcock, A. (1896). Materials for carcinological Fauna of India. N. 2. The brachyura oxystomata. Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, 65(2): 134–296.

Apreshgi, K.P., K.V. Dhaneesh, T. Radhakrishnan & A. Kumar (2016). DNA barcoding of fiddler crabs Uca annulipes and U. perplexa (Arthropoda, Ocypodidae) from the southwest coast of India. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 58(1): 101–104. https://doi.org/10.6024/jmbai.2016.58.1.1865-13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.6024/jmbai.2016.58.1.1865-13

Baeza, J.A. & S. Prakash (2019). An integrative taxonomic and phylogenetic approach reveals a complex of cryptic species in the ‘peppermint’ shrimp Lysmata wurdemanni sensu stricto. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 185(4): 1018–1038. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zly084 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zly084

Bucklin, A., P.H. Wiebe, S.B. Smolenack, N.J. Copley, J.G. Beaudet, K.G. Bonner, L.J. Farber & J.J. Pierson (2007). DNA Barcodes for species identification of Euphausiids (Euphausiacea, Crustacea). Journal of Plankton Research 29: 483–493. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbm031 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbm031

Chen, H.-L. & Sun, H.-B. (2002) Fauna Sinica Invertebrata (vol 30): Arthropoda Crustacea: Brachyura: Marine primitive crabs. Science Press, Beijing, 436, fig. 197, pl. 16.8.

Chen, J., Y. Xing, W. Yao, X. Xu, C. Zhang, Z. Zhang & Q. Liu (2019). Phylomitogenomics reconfirm the phylogenetic position of the genus Metaplax inferred from the two grapsid crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Grapsoidea). Plos One 14(1): e0210763. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210763 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210763

Chhapgar, B.F. (1968). More additions to the crab fauna of Bombay State. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 65(3): 608–617.

Darnell, M.Z. (2012). Ecological physiology of the circadian pigmentation rhythm in the fiddler crab Uca panacea. Journal of the Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 426: 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2012.05.014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2012.05.014

De Haan, W. (1833–1850). Crustacea. In: von Siebold, P.F. Fauna Japonica sive Descriptio Animalium, quae in Itinere per Japoniam, Jussu et Auspiciis Superiorum, qui Summum in India Batava Imperium Tenent, Suspecto, Annis 1823–1830 Collegit, Notis, Observationibus et Adumbrationibus Illustravit. i-xxxi, ix-xvi, 1–243, Plates A-J, L-Q, 1–55. Lugduni-Batavorum.

Fabricius, J.C. (1798). Supplementum Entomologiae Systematicae: 350. Hafniae DOI: https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.123559

Felsenstein, J. (1985). Confidence limits on phylogenies: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39(4): 783–791.

Folmer, O., M. Black, W. Hoeh, R. Lutz & R. Vrijenhoek (1994). DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 3: 294–299.

Fratini, S., S. Cannicci & C.D. Schubart (2018). Molecular phylogeny of the crab genus Metopograpsus H. Milne Edwards, 1853 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Grapsidae) reveals high intraspecific genetic variation and distinct evolutionarily significant units. Invertebrate Systematics 32: 215–223. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS17034 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/IS17034

Galil, B.S. (2005). Contributions to the knowledge of Leucosiidae IV. Seulocia gen. nov. (Crustacea: Brachyura). Zoologische Medelingen, Leiden 79(2): 41.

Galil, B.S. & P.L. Ng (2015). Leucosiid crabs from Papua New Guinea, with descriptions of eight new species (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura). Zootaxa 4027(4): 36. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4027.4.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4027.4.1

Hall, T.A. (1999). BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. In: Nucleic acids symposium series, Vol. 41, pp. 95–98, London.

Herbst, J.F.W. (1782–1804). Versuch einer Naturgeschichte der Krabben und Krebse nebst einer systematischen Beschreibung ihrer verschiedenen Arten: 3 vol., 274+226+(216) p., 72 pls. [1790, 1 (8): 239–274, pls. 18–21; 1794, 2 (5): 147–162, pls. 37–40; 1801, 3 (2): 1–46, pls. 51–54]. Berlin und Stralsund. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.62813

Huang, Z. (1994). Marine species and their distributions in China’s seas: 1–764, 1–134 index. China Ocean Press, Beijing.

Hultgren, K.M. & J.J. Stachowicz (2008). Molecular phylogeny of the brachyuran crab superfamily Majoidea indicates close congruence with trees based on larval morphology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48(3): 986–996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.004

Kimura, M. (1980). A simple method for estimating evolutionary rates of base substitutions through comparative studies of nucleotide sequences. Journal of Molecular Evolution 16(2): 111–120.

Kumar, S., G. Stecher & K. Tamura (2016). MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Molecular Biology and Evolution 33(7): 1870–1874. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw054 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw054

Lai, J.C.Y., B.P. Thoma, P.F. Clark, D.L. Felder & P.K.L. Ng (2013). Phylogeny of eriphioid crabs (Brachyura, Eriphioidea) inferred from molecular and morphological studies. Zoologica Scripta 43: 52– 64. https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12030 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12030

Latreille, P.A. (1802–1803). Histoire naturelle, generate et particuliere, des crustaces et des insectes. Volume 3. Paris: F. Dufart

Madhavan, A., R. Silvester, M.P. Prabhakaran, R. Naderloo, C.K. Radhakrishnan & N.R. Menon (2020). First barcode of Ryphila cancellus (Herbst, 1783), from the southwest coast of India. Regional Studies in Marine Science 33: 100910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100910 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100910

Mantelatto, F.L., R. Robles, I.S. Wehrtmann, C.D. Schubart & D.L. Felder (2018). New insights into the molecular phylogeny of the swimming crabs of the genera Portunus Weber, 1795 and Achelous De Haan, 1833 (Brachyura: Portunidae) of the Americas. Journal of the Crustacean Biology 38(2): 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcbiol/rux119 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcbiol/rux119

Miers, E.J. (1884). Crustacea. Report on the zoological collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean during the voyage of H.M.S. ‘Alert’ 1881-2. Part I. The collections from Melanesia. Part. II. The collections from the Western Indian Ocean: 178–322, 513-575, pls. 18-32, 46-51. British Museum, Natural History, London.

Naderloo, R. & M. Apel (2012). Leucosiid crabs of the genus Hiplyra Galil, 2009 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Leucosiidae) from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, with description of a new species. Zoological Studies 51(2): 248–258.

Ng, P. K. & H. Komatsu (2016). Nursia tohae, a new species of coral rubble mimic crab (Crustacea: Brachyura: Leucosiidae) from the Philippines and Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 34: 519–527.

Ng, P., D. Guinot & P. Davie (2008). An annotated checklist of extant brachyuran crabs of the world. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 17(1): 286.

Purohit, M. (2017). Palk Bay: Trawled and damaged. Accesed at https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/palk-bay-trawled-and-damaged. Accessed on 01 December 2019.

Rathbun, M.J. (1910). Brachyura. The Danish Expedition to Siam 1899–1900, V. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, 7. Raekke, Naturvidenskabelig og Mathematisk Afdeling, 4, 301–367.

Rath, S., V. Kumar, S. Kundu, K. Tyagi, D. Singha, R. Chakraborty & S. Chatterjee (2018). DNA testing of edible crabs from seafood shops on the Odisha coast, India. Biomolecular Concepts 9(1): 12–16. https://doi.org/10.1515/bmc-2018-0002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bmc-2018-0002

Ravichandran, S., D.K. Rajan & W.S. Fredrick (2017). Molecular characterization of Brachyuran crab Dromia dehaani (Rathbun, 1923) along the Pazhayar coast (Southeast Coast of India). International Journal of Zoological Research 13(1): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3923/ijzr.2017.1.5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3923/ijzr.2017.1.5

Sakai, K. (1999). J.F.W. Herbst collection of decapod Crustacea of the Berlin Zoological Museum with remarks on certain species. Naturalists, Publications of Tokushima Biological Laboratory, Shikoku University 6: 19, pl. 7E.

Samouelle, G. (1819). The entomologist’s useful compendium; or An introduction to the knowledge of British insects, comprising the best means of obtaining and preserving them, and a description of the apparatus generally used; together with the genera of Linné, and the modern method of arranging the classes Crustacea, Myriapoda, spiders, mites and insects, from their affinities and structure, according to the views of Dr. Leach : also an explanation of the terms used in entomology; a calendar of the times of appearance and usual situations of near 3,000 species of British insects; with instructions for collecting and fitting up objects for the microscope. Printed for Thomas Boys, London.

Shen, C.J. & H. Chen (1978). Description of five new species of Leucosia (Crustacea, Decapoda: Leucosiidae) off Chinese waters. Studia Marina Sinica, pl. 2, figs 12, 13, text-fig. 5.

Shen, C.J. & A. Dai (1964). Atlas of Chinese Zoology: Crustaceans. Science Press, Beijing, 142pp. [in Chinese].

Stevens, M., A.E. Lown & L.E. Wood (2014). Colour change and camouflage in juvenile shore crabs Carcinus maenas. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2: 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2014.00014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2014.00014

Stimpson, W. (1858). Prodromus descriptionis animalium evertebratorum, quae in Expeditione ad Oceanum Pacificum Septentrionalem, a Republica Federata missa, Cadwaladaro Ringgold et Johanne Rodgers Ducibus, observavit et descripsit. Pars VI Crustacea Oxystomata. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 10: 159–163.

Trivedi, J.N. & K.D. Vachhrajani (2017). First record of Seulocia pulchra from India with a note on its colour pattern. Marine Biodiversity 47(2): 613–615. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0517-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0517-y

Trivedi, J.N., D.J. Trivedi, K.D. Vachhrajani & P.K. Ng (2018). An annotated checklist of the marine brachyuran crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) of India. Zootaxa 4502(1): 1–83. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4502.1.1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4502.1.1

Vartak, V.R., N. Rajendran & W.S. Lakra (2015). Classical taxonomy and 16S rRNA gene marker confirmed first record of the Menippid crab Menippe rumphii (Fabricius, 1798) from the West coast of India. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences 44(1): 76–82.

WoRMS (2019). Seulocia Galil, 2005. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=439451. Accessed on 01st December 2019.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>