Notes on distribution of some portunid crabs in the Mediterranean Sea (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae)

Abstract

Collections of benthic organisms were obtained during previous Soviet research cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, 1974Sea, -1980. Material was collected by bottom grabs or trawls from the depths of 20-500m. Collecting stations were allocated in the Aegean, Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, Balearic, Alboran, and Ionian Seas, and between Sicily and Tunisia. Among decapod crustaceans collected, 8 species of portunid crabs were present, i.e., Liocarcinus. corrugatus

An appraisal of the Middle-Late Miocene fossil decapod crustaceans of the ‘Faluns’ (Anjou-Touraine, France)

“…Liocarcinus pusillus (Leach, 1815) and L. navigator (Herbst, 1794) have a similar blunt front medially produced, similar to the studied specimen, but they differ in having a rougher dorsal surface, and by the lack of the conspicuous protogastric ridges and three characteristic tubercles, longitudinally aligned, present in the French specimen possess (e.g. Froglia & Manning 1982;Koch & Ďuriš 2016) The general outline and dorsal sculpture of the studied specimen also resemble that of Miopipus pygmaeus (Brocchi, 1883) (Brocchi 1883: 1, pl. 5, figs 4-4a).…”

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“…Muchas de las especies de portúnidos forman parte de niveles tróficos altos, ya que se definen como depredadores estrictos. Son especies que ocupan hábitats blandos de gravas, arenas y limos, jugando un papel trófico clave en estos ambientes (Abelló, 1989;Koch y Ďuriš, 2016).…”

“…En la actualidad, en Canarias se han citado unas 25 especies de Portunoidea (González-Pérez, 2018). Debido a la ecología y etología de los Portunoidea, pues se trata de cangrejos con gran movilidad y capacidad de natación, su capacidad de neocolonización es alta; además, en las últimas décadas esta capacidad se ha visto potenciada por las actividades humanas y el incremento descontrolado del tráfico marítimo (Koch y Ďuriš, 2016).…”