Vol. 61, 2022

(update: 2022.10.11)

New Genus and Two New Species of Semiterrestrial Crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae) from the Southern Western Ghats, India

Smrithy Raj^1,2,3,*, Appukuttannair Biju Kumar¹, and Peter K. L. Ng⁴

¹Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram – 695581, Kerala, India. *Correspondence: E-mail: smrithyaqb@gmail.com (Raj).
E-mail: bijupuzhayoram@gmail.com (Kumar)
²National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, GKVK Campus, Bellary Road, Bangalore 560065, Karnataka, India
³Wildlife Information Liaison Development, 12 Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampatti-Kalapatti Road, Saravanampatti, Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 641035, India
⁴Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, 2 Conservatory Drive, Singapore 117377, Republic of Singapore. E-mail: peterng@nus.edu.sg (Ng)

Received 25 November 2021 / Accepted 5 June 2022
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

One new genus and two new species of semiterrestrial freshwater crabs are described from the Southern Western Ghats mountain range in India: Pavizham gavi gen., sp. nov. and Rajathelphusa brunnea sp. nov. The carapace of Pavizham n. gen. is superficially similar to Baratha and Snaha described from the same region, but it can be distinguished from Baratha in having no visible postorbital cristae, complete sutures between male thoracic sternites 2 and 3, the possession of a triangular male pleon and the elongate terminal segment of the male first gonopod; and from Snaha by the presence of a long flagellum on the exopod of the third maxilliped, a complete suture separating male thoracic sternites 2 and 3, and its triangular male pleon. Rajathelphusa brunnea sp. nov. can easily be distinguished from congeners in possessing a distinctly more slender and elongate male first gonopod.

Key words: Pavizham, Rajathelphusa, Taxonomy, Kerala, Freshwater crab, Indian subcontinent, Biodiversity.

Citation: Raj S, Kumar AB, Ng PKL. 2022. New genus and two new species of semiterrestrial crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae) from the southern Western Ghats, India. Zool Stud 61:49. doi:10.6620/ZS.2022.61-49.