Varuna litterata (Fabricius, 1798)

Lagare, Nickel Jean S., Mapi-Ot, Emmarie F., Molina, Ziljih S., Neri, Jemateo B., Nuñeza, Olga M. & Mendoza, Jose Christopher E., 2020, On a collection of freshwater and estuarine crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura) from Mindanao Island, the Philippines, Zootaxa 4868 (3), pp. 301-330 : 318-319

Varuna litterata (Fabricius, 1798)

Fig. 5F

Varuna litterata, Miers 1886: 265 .—de Elera 1895: 542.— Balss 1934: 180.— Estampador 1937: 539.— Ward 1941: 2.— Motoh & Kuronuma 1980: 88, fig. 36.— Serène & Vadon 1981: 125.— Manuel et al. 1991: 91.— Alcala et al. 2010: 215, fig. 16.

Material examined. 1 male, 38.0 by 34.6 mm, ( ZRC; NJL180113 ) Brgy. Liguac, Salug town , Zamboanga del Norte prov., coll. N.J. Lagare, 25 Dec. 2018 ; 4 males, 29.5 by 27.3 mm—42.1 by 37.5 mm, 4 females, 28.5 by 27.0 mm—36.7 by 35.5 mm, ( ZRC; JBN170601–08 ), Brgy. Opao, Dapitan town , Zamboanga del Norte prov., coll. J.B. Neri, 21 Nov. 2017 ; 3 males, 27.7 by 25.9 mm—34.2 by 31.7 mm, 2 females, 37.4 by 35.5 mm, 29.5 by 28.5 mm ( ZRC; JBN170801–05 ), Brgy. Denoman, Roxas town , Zamboanga del Norte prov., coll. J.B. Neri, 23 Nov. 2017 ; 3 males, 20.9 by 19.5 mm—32.6 by 30.2 mm, 6 females, 21.6 by 20.4 mm—31.0 by 30.5 mm, ( ZRC; JBN170301–09 ), Brgy. Kanim, Sibutad town , Zamboanga del Norte prov., coll. J.B. Neri, 22 Nov. 2017 ; 1 male, 48.1 by 30.1 mm, ( ZRC; NJL160734 ) Brgy. Poblacion, Maigo town , Lanao del Norte prov., coll. N.J. Lagare, 22 Sep. 2016 ; 4 males, 20.6 by 20.3 mm—41.1 by 38.0 mm, 1 female 20.6 by 20.3 mm ( ZRC; NJL182301–05 ); Brgy. Cawag, Samal Island town , Davao del Norte prov., coll. N.J. Lagare, 11 Oct. 2018 ; 4 males, 25.5 by 24.4 mm—36.2 by 32.0 mm, 3 females, 26.0 by 25.3 mm—28.5 by 27.3 mm, ( ZRC; EFM189401–07 ), Malita town, Davao Occidental prov. , coll. E.F. Mapi-ot , 2018; 12 males, 15.2 by 14.5 mm—46.4 by 40.4 mm, 10 females, 16.7 by 16.0 mm—24.5 by 23.4 mm, ( ZRC, EFM180307–28 ), Don Marcelino, Davao Occidental prov. , coll. E.F. Mapi-ot , 2018; 2 males, 28.1 by 26.3 mm, 21.2 by 19.7 mm, 1 female, 21.4 by 20.6 mm, ( ZRC; ZSM181410–12 ), Brgy. Badtasan, Kiamba town, Davao Occidental prov. , coll. Z.S. Molina, 13 Jan. 2018 .

Remarks. Varuna litterata (Fabricius, 1798) (type locality: east coast of India) is a widespread species of the Indo-West Pacific, ranging from the eastern coast of Africa all the way to New Guinea and Polynesia ( Alcock 1900; Sakai 1939, 1976; Barnard 1950; Crosnier 1965; Holthuis 1978; Dai & Yang 1991; Keith et al. 2002). It is generally a brackish water species which has also been known to ingress into contiguous freshwater habitats upstream. Varuna litterata has been widely recorded in the Philippines: Luzon I. (Manila, Batangas, Verde I. Passage); Negros I. (Dumaguete); Panay (Iloilo); Mindanao I. (Davao Gulf, Zamboanga) ( Miers 1886; de Elera 1895; Balss 1934; Estampador 1937; Ward 1941; Serène & Vadon 1981; Alcala et al. 2010). This species has also been recorded by Motoh & Kuronuma (1980) as being exploited for food in rural areas of the Philippines, and its gravid females are prized for their roe particularly in central and northern Luzon (JCEM pers. obs.). Some of the common Filipino vernacular names used for this species include: kappi (Ilocano), talangka (Tagalog), kalampay (Cebuano), and katang (Hiligaynon), although these may be used for other freshwater crab species as well.

A highly similar species, V. yui Hwang & Takeda, 1983 (type locality: I-lan County, Taiwan), has also been recorded from the Philippines (Cebu), and may be confused with V. litterata , but Hwang & Takeda (1983: 16, figs. 1, 2) used characters of the pleon, ambulatory legs and G1 to distinguish the two species.

The present material from Mindanao, comes from several brackish-water localities where it is moderately common, and it agrees with published descriptions of V. litterata .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Colour photos of recently preserved crabs (dorsal habitus). A, Ptychognathus altimanus (Rathbun, 1914), male 21.1 by 19.9 mm (ZRC), Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental; B, Ptychognathus pusillus Heller, 1865, male, 13.1 by 10.7 mm (ZRC), Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental; C, Ptychognathus riedellii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1868), male, 28.9 by 25.0 mm (ZRC), Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental; D, Pyxidognathus granulosus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879, female, 15.4 by 17.3 mm (ZRC), Maigo, Lanao del Norte; E, Utica gracilipes Adams & White, 1848, male, 24.2 by 22.8 mm (ZRC), Iligan, Lanao del Norte; F, Varuna litterata (Fabricius, 1798), male, 42.1 by 37.5 mm (ZRC), Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte.G, Austruca perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1852), male, 13.9 by 10.6 mm (ZRC), Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental; H, Ocypode ceratophthalmus (Pallas, 1772), male, 30.8 by 27.8 mm (ZRC), Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte. Scale bars: 10 mm.