KERALA COAST HOME TO RICH DIVERSITY OF HERMIT CRABS

KERALA COAST HOME TO RICH DIVERSITY OF HERMIT CRABS

The Kerala coast is home to a rich diversity of hermit crabs, a taxonomic survey conducted by researchers from the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries under the University of Kerala has revealed The survey carried out during the year 2010-11, reported the presence of 40 species of hermit crabs, including one new species. The report assumes significance as only 30 species of hermit crabs have been recorded in India so far and six from Kerala. The new species named Ciliopagurus grandis , was collected from Sakthikulangara from a depth of 10 to 15 m.It is orange in colour in the shield region, with transverse ridges on the legs lined by red. According to the researchers A. Biju Kumar and R. Reshmi, it is the first new species recorded exclusively from Indian coastal waters. The discovery is published in the latest issue of Zootaxa , an international journal on taxonomy. The taxonomic identification of the crab was supported by Dr. Tomoyuki Komai of the Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, Japan, an authority on hermit crabs. The study, supported by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, also recorded four species for the first time in India.

                                  Prof. John Kurakar