دانلود New record of color morphs of brachyuran crab Charybdis annulata Fabricius, 1798 Decapoda: Portunidae

Abstract

Charybdis  annulata  (Fabricius,  1798)  is  a  common  portunid  crab  species  found  on  rocky  shore  habitat.  It mostly  prefers  coral  reef  and  algal  assemblage  area  as  living  and  foraging  habitats.  During  the  study  on  brachyuran crab diversity of Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India, we came across the presence of color polymorphism in the species. Total 62 specimens were collected from the field and two color morphs- orange morph  and  brown  morph  were  identified.  The  differences  in  the  morphological  characteristic  were  recorded properly on the basis of detail observation of both the morphs. The orange morph shows specific micro habitat preference while the brown morph utilizes wide range of micro habitats.