Uca (Tubuca) paradussumieri ( Bott, 1973 )

Shih, Hsi-Te, Lee, Jung-Hsiang, Ho, Ping-Ho, Liu, Hung-Chang, Wang, Chia-Hsiang, Suzuki, Hiroshi & Teng, Shao-Jyun, 2016, Species diversity of fiddler crabs, genus Uca Leach, 1814 (Crustacea: Ocypodidae), from Taiwan and adjacent islands, with notes on the Japanese species, Zootaxa 4083 (1), pp. 57-82 : 74

Uca (Tubuca) paradussumieri ( Bott, 1973)

( Fig. 7D, E )

Mesuca (Latuca) paradussumieri Bott, 1973: 317 , fig. 10 [type locality: Bengal, India] (see Shih et al. 2010b for list of citation of synonyms).

Uca sp.— Lai 2009: 61, 1 unnumbered fig.

Material examined. Taiwan: 1 ♂ (34.5 mm) (NCHUZOOL 14713), Houlong R. estuary, Miaoli, coll. J.-H. Lee, 28 May, 2012 ; 2 ♂♂ (33.0, 33.2 mm) (NCHUZOOL 14714), Houlong R. estuary, Miaoli, coll. J.-H. Lee, 16 July, 2012. Kinmen Islands: 2 ♂♂ (20.2, 22.6 mm) (NCHUZOOL 13995), Wujiang R. estuary, coll. J.- H. Lee, 21 May 2005 ; 1 ♂ (31.8 mm) (NCHUZOOL 13994), Wujiang R. estuary, coll. H.-T. Shih & Y.-H. Wang, 7 Mar. 2008; 2 ♂♂ (27.8, 36.3 mm) (NCHUZOOL 14606), 1 ♂ (21.8 mm) (NCHUZOOL 14748), Wujiang R. estuary, coll. Y.-H. Wang, 16 Aug. 2011.

Distribution. Western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean ( Taiwan [including Kinmen], China [including Hainan], Vietnam, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Myanmar, Bengal).

Remarks. Uca paradussumieri and U. dussumieri are very similar in morphology, but the coloration of adult individuals is different, with U. paradussumieri having carapace pale brown or greyish brown and major cheliped deep yellow or yellow brown ( Fig. 6D, E ), but U. dussumieri has carapace dark brown or black and major cheliped deep orange red ( Fig. 6A–C ).

This species is distributed widely from the coast of eastern and southeastern China, Hainan, Vietnam, Borneo, and both sides of Peninsular Malaysia ( Shih et al. 2010b). The finding from Kinmen was expected because this species has been recorded in adjacent Xiamen ( Shih et al. 2010b). The records from Taiwan, however, seem unusual. One photograph in Lai (2009), taken from Dajhongmiao, Tainan (W.-C. Lai, personal communication), is confirmed to be U. paradussumieri by the yellow brown major cheliped and long fingers. Three large specimens were also collected from the Miaoli mudflats, northwestern Taiwan in 2012 (this study), with at least 20 individuals in this area (JHL, personal observation). This species should be very rare in Taiwan but more surveys are needed (see Discussion).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Species of the subgenus Uca (Tubuca) from Taiwan. A, B, Uca acuta, male from Kinmen; C – E, U. arcuata (De Haan, 1835), adult male and juvenile from Guandu, Taipei City (C, E), mating pair from Shengang, Changhua (D); F – H, U. coarctata (H. Milne Edwards, 1852), male from the Yanshuei River estuary, Tainan (F, G) and female from the Baoli River estuary, Pingtung (H).

FIGURE 7. Species of the subgenera Uca (Tubuca) (A – E) and Xeruca (F – H) from Taiwan. A – C, Uca dussumieri (H. Milne Edwards, 1852), male from Siyu, Penghu (A), male and female from the Baoli River estuary, Pingtung (B, C); D, E, U. paradussumieri Bott, 1973, male from the Houlong River estuary, Miaoli; F – H, U. formosensis Rathbun, 1921, males from Haishangu, Hsinchu (F, G), male from Cingluo, Penghu (H).