Emerita pangandaranensis sp. nov., a new sand crab (Anomura, Hippidae) from the South Coast of Java, Indonesia

Abstract

All previous reports of the genus Emerita from Indonesia have only identified one species, namely Emerita emeritus, which was found on the west coast of Sumatera and the south and northern coast of Java. Previous studies expected that other species, related to Emerita emeritus, should be found in southern Java. We report a new species of Emerita, which was found on Pangandaran Beach, in an intertidal area, within the southern beach of Java, near Citonjong Estuary. We compared the specimen from a nearby location, that is from Cilacap and the collection of Emerita emeritus from Bengkulu. Here, we describe and illustrate the species.

Morphological and molecular characterization of mole crab (Genus: Emerita) in the Cilacap coastlines of Indonesia, with particular focus on genetic diversity of Emerita sp. nov.

“…The possible presence of the sympatric species complex of the Cilacap coastlines was reported (Nuryanto et al 2020). Even, Hanim et al (2017) proposed a scientific name for the new suspected species of Emerita from Pangandaran beach, as Emerita pangandarensis sp. nov..…”

“…Still, the international commission has not approved its zoological nomenclature. However, the studies by Hanim et al (2017) and Nuryanto et al (2020) were conducted in few samples and only focused on species identification. These studies did not report genetic diversity in newly suspected Emerita species.…”