Vol. 58, 2019

(update: 2019.07.16; 09.10)
 

The Synonymy of the Supratidal Crab Species Parasesarma cognatum Rahayu & Li, 2013 with P. liho Koller, Liu & Schubart, 2010 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) Based on Morphological and Molecular Evidence, with a Note on P. paucitorum Rahayu & Ng, 2009

Hsi-Te Shih^1,2,§,*, Pei-Yi Hsu^1,§, Adnan Shahdadi^3,§, Christoph D. Schubart⁴, and Jheng-Jhang Li^5,6

¹Department of Life Science, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan. *Correspondence: E-mail: htshih@dragon.nchu.edu.tw
²Research Center for Global Change Biology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
³Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran
⁴Zoologie & Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
⁵Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
⁶East Peak Ecological Consultants, Inc., Linyuan, Kaohsiung 832, Taiwan
^§These authors contributed equally to this paper.

^§HTS, PYH, and AS contributed equally to this paper.
Received 9 May 2019 / Accepted 15 July 2019
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

Parasesarma liho Koller, Liu & Schubart, 2010 and P. cognatum Rahayu & Li, 2013 from East and Southeast Asia are similar species that have been confused in several studies. Here, we re-examined the type specimens of both species and found identical main characters, which is supported by the molecular identity of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. As a result, we treat P. cognatum as a junior subjective synonym of P. liho. We also show that the male paratype of P. paucitorum Rahayu & Ng, 2009 is conspecific with P. liho, although P. paucitorum s. str. remains a distinct but allied species. The distribution of P. liho is updated to include Japan (Ryukyus), Taiwan, Philippines (Cebu) and Indonesia (Sulawesi).

Key words: Parasesarma, P. liho, P. cognatum, P. paucitorum, Morphology, Mitochondrial COI.

Citation: Shih HT, Hsu PY, Shahdadi A, Schubart CD, Li JJ. 2019. The synonymy of the supratidal crab species Parasesarma cognatum Rahayu & Li, 2013 with P. liho Koller, Liu & Schubart, 2010 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) based on morphological and molecular evidence, with a note on P. paucitorum Rahayu & Ng, 2009. Zool Stud 58:21. doi:10.6620/ZS.2019.58-21.