Plagusia depressa ( Fabricius, 1775 )

Freire, Leonardo Cruz da Rosa Rafael Barbosa dos Santos Kátia Meirelles Felizola, 2018, First record of the cliff crab Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775) (Decapoda: Plagusiidae) from the coast of Sergipe, Brazil, Nauplius (e 2018030) 26, pp. 1-3 : 2

Plagusia depressa ( Fabricius, 1775)

( Fig. 1 )

Material examined. Two males (CW 40.10 and 55.80 mm; CL 37.80 and 52.10 mm) and one ovigerous female (CW 43.30 mm; CL 41.50 mm) (NEP-CRUST 0028-0030), Atalaia Nova Beach , Barra dos Coqueiros, Sergipe, NE Brazil ( Fig. 2 ), iv.2015, coll. R. B. dos Santos .

Remarks. According to Melo (1996) and Almeida and Carvalho (2014), P. depressa occurs from Ceará to Bahia. However, this species has never been recorded in Alagoas and Sergipe. Thus, P. depressa is herein recorded for the first time from the state of Sergipe (10°S), filling a gap in the knowledge of the species distribution between the states of Pernambuco (8°S) and Bahia (12°S). This species is commonly harvested by artisanal fishermen along the coast of Pernambuco ( Freitas and Santos, 2002; Coelho et al., 2004; Freitas and Santos, 2007). However, P. depressa seems not to form large populations in Sergipe, probably due to the absence of suitable habitat for this species. Indeed, the coast of Sergipe is mainly composed of sandy beaches without coral reefs or rocky habitats, except for the presence of a few artificial rocky structures such as the jetty where the species was collected ( Fig. 2B ). These jetties were built to stabilize both margins of the Sergipe River mouth ca. 30 years ago. However, during field trips carried out at both sides of the river mouth, the presence of P. depressa was confirmed only at the jetty of Atalaia Nova (north side). Factors controlling the species distribution and estimates of population size in the coast of Sergipe deserve further investigations.

Figures

Figure 1. Plagusia depressa (Fabricius, 1775), male CL=37.80 mm and CW 40.10 mm from Atalaia Nova Beach, municipality of Barra dos Coqueiros, state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil (NEP-CRUST 0029). Scale bar: 2 cm.

Figure 2. Sampling area of Plagusiadepressa (Fabricius, 1775) in Sergipe:A) Locationof thejetty of AtalaiaNova Beach,municipality of Barra dos Coqueiros; B) Jetty of Atalaia Nova; C) Plagusia depressa in its natural habitat.