Jigneshkumar N. Trivedi

A new species of the genus Diogenes Dana, 1851 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae) from Gujarat, northwestern India

A new species of diogenid hermit crab, Diogenes chhapgari n. sp., is described on the basis of material collected during the crustacean faunal survey along the coastal areas of the Gujarat State, northwestern India. The new species is referred to the D. edwardsii (De Haan, 1849) species group and appears closest to D. singaporensis Rahayu, 2015. However, D. chhapgari n. sp. is distinguished from this species by the armature on the fourth segment of the antennal peduncle and carpus of the left cheliped.

First record of Cryptopodia angulata H. Milne Edwards and Lucas, 1841 from Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India (Decapoda: Brachyura: Parthenopidae)

Cryptopodia angulata is reported for the first time from Saurashtra coast of Gujarat state. One adult female was found in trawl catch near Sutrapada village of Saurashtra coast on January, 2012. Although the species is not common in Indian waters, this species has been reported from the south east coast of India. This is the first report from Saurashtra coast.

A new species of Lyphira Galil, 2009 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Leucosiidae) from Gujarat, India

A new species of crab belonging to the genus Lyphira Galil, 2009 of the family Leucosiidae Samouelle, 1819, is described from Gujarat state, India. Lyphira georgei n. sp. is distinguished from the related species L. perplexa Galil, 2009, in the shape of main shaft and apical lobe of male first gonopod, shape and size of the male telson as well as size and shape of somite 2 of male abdomen. The details of morphological differences are presented in the report. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8DC6CACE-4BF9-45F4-B151-CFB2BAF4D82B

Elasmopus sivaprakasami sp. nov., a new species of amphipod (Senticaudata, Maeridae) from Gujarat State, India

A new species of amphipod, Elasmopus sivaprakasami sp. nov., is described from India. It is found to be conspecific with material described from southern India nearly fifty years previously, but attributed at that time to a species described from Japan.

Range extension of brachyuran crabs of the family Camptandriidae Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) in Indian waters

We report the presence of 3 species of brachyuran crabs, Opusia indica (Alcock, 1900), Nasima dotilliformis (Alcock, 1900) and Leptochryseus kuwaitensis (Jones & Clayton, 1983) (family Camptandriidae), for the first time from Indian waters. The species are so far reported from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Records of these species in Indian waters extend their distribution range in the northern Indian Ocean.

First record of Pilumnopeus convexus (Maccagno, 1936) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Pilumnidae) from the Indian coast

Pilumnopeus convexus (Maccagno, 1936) (Pilumnidae) is recorded for the first time across the Indian coast. The species has so far been reported from coastal waters of the Red Sea, Pakistan and Persian Gulf. P. convexus can be easily distinguished from closely related species in having transversely hexagonal carapace, acute anterolateral teeth and tip of the male left gonopod curved to form a hook like structure. Possible explanations to the new record are discussed.

Pattern of shell utilization in the hermit crab Clibanarius zebra (Dana, 1852) along the Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India

This study focuses on evaluating the pattern of shell utilization by the hermit crab Clibanarius zebra collected from the intertidal zone of four different sites along the Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India. Specimens were collected monthly from March 2012 to August 2013 during low tide; hermit crab weight (HW) and their shield length (SL) were measured. Gastropod shells were identified and different morphological variables were recorded [dry weight (DW), shell length (SHL), shell aperture length, and shell aperture width]. A total of 804 hermit crabs occupying 23 gastropod species were collected. Cerithium scabridum (41.8%) was the shell most occupied by the crabs followed by Turbo intercostalis (10.6%), Astrea stellata (7.8%), Lunella coronata (6.6%), and Chicoreus brunneus (5.6%). Significant difference was obtained in the percentage of shell occupation between sexes. Regression analysis showed a high correlation between the different morphological variables of hermit crabs and gastropod shells; the highest values of correlation were obtained between HW and DW. The high values of correlation coefficient and regression models between the different morphological variables of hermit crabs and gastropod shells suggest that shell architecture has a huge impact on shell utilization pattern of C. zebra.

First record of the marbled electric ray, Torpedo sinuspersici off Gujarat, north-west coast of India

One female specimen of Torpedo sinuspersici was collected from the trawl catch along the Saurashtra coast of Junagadh district, Gujarat, India. Although a total 486 species of marine fish have been identified so far from the State, the present paper describes the first record of T. sinuspersici from the coast of Gujarat State of India.