Scylla serrata (Forskål, 1775)

Muñoz, Isabel, García-Isarch, Eva & Cuesta, Jose A., 2021, Annotated and updated checklist of marine crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura) of Mozambique supported by morphological and molecular data from shelf and slope species of the “ MOZAMBIQUE ” surveys, Zootaxa 5056 (1), pp. 1-67 : 43-44

Scylla serrata (Forskål, 1775)

( Figure 14C , preserved)

Material examined. M08, Stn. 16, 235 m, ♀ 142.1× 95.6mm (IEO-CD-MZ08/2238), 16S ( MZ4249709 ), COI ( MZ 434817 ) .

Habitat and distribution. Scylla serrata is a common species in the IP, included in all the IWP checklists ( Crosnier 1962; Kensley 1981; Poupin 2010, 2018; Emmerson 2016c). It is distributed along the coasts of East South Africa ( South Africa, Mozambique, Somalia, Madagascar), Australia and Japan ( Crosnier, 1962). According to Keenan et al. (1998), S. serrata is the most widespread species within the genus. It is a coastal species, even intertidal ( Stephenson 1972), which uses estuaries and mangroves as nurseries, as it is the case of the Saco mangrove creek, on Inhaca Island (South Mozambique) ( Paula et al. 2004). Although the species is associated with mangroves that are flooded with ocean water during most of the year, it can also tolerate reduced salinities ( Keenan et al. 1998).

Results and remarks. The unique specimen was determined using the key and illustrations of Crosnier (1962) and Apel & Spiridonov (1998). It is a large individual collected in M08 at 235m depth. Poupin (2010) and Emmerson (2016c) reported this species in brackish waters of intertidal areas.Therefore, this new record extends the bathymetric range of S. serrata to deep waters up to 235m. The specimen was collected in front of the Quelimane estuary in Mozambique, which might be a nursery area for this species, while adults might migrate towards deeper waters.

Colouration observed. Photographs of the live specimen are not available.

DNA barcodes. The 16S sequence of the specimen IEO-CD-MOZ08/2238 fits 100% with several sequences of Scylla serrata deposited in Genbank.According with a BOLD search, the COI sequence presents the same haplotype ( HVDBC 124-12) of a specimen ( HVDBC _KZN_310) from Mapelane ( South Africa) collected by Greenfield ( BOLD) and deposited at the University of Johannesburg, and also fits 100% with a sequence ( SBBM 039-13) from a specimen collected in Transkei ( South Africa) and identified by Mostert. It presents a minimum of one mutation with respect to the rest of COI haplotypes that are available in Genbank and BOLD for S. serrata .

Figures

FIGURE 14. A, Chaceon macphersoni, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ09/1812; B, Ovalipes iridescens, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ07/1921. C, Scylla serrata, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ08/2238 (preserved); D, Charybdis africana, ♂ IEO-CD-MZ08/1813; E, Charybdis feriata, ♂ IEO-CD- MZ07/1902 (preserved); F, Charybdis smithii, ♂ IEO-CD-MZ08/1813; G, Monodaeus tuberculidens, ♂ IEO-CD-MZ07/1803. Scale bars: 1cm.