Morphometrics and COI-phylogeny of the Japanese sponge crab Lauridromia dehaani (Rathbun, 1923) (Brachyura, Dromiidae) from the southeastern Arabian Sea, India

Josileen, Jose and Vijayan, M T and Retheesh, T and Sunil, K T S and Jeena, N S (2025) Morphometrics and COI-phylogeny of the Japanese sponge crab Lauridromia dehaani (Rathbun, 1923) (Brachyura, Dromiidae) from the southeastern Arabian Sea, India. Crustaceana, 98 (3). pp. 1-17. ISSN 1568-5403

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Abstract

The Japanese sponge crab Lauridromia dehaani (Rathbun, 1923) was observed as a stray catch in various marine fish landing centres, and recently, a good number of specimens of the species were collected from Sakthikulangara harbour at Kollam, Kerala. In India, this dromiid crab enjoys a wide distribution along both coasts. The size of the collected crabs ranged between 59-86 mm carapace width (CW) and the total weight recorded between 70-153 g and all male and female crabs were mature. The interrelationship between different morphometric characters in males and females was significant and the carapace width/length-weight relationship showed no significant difference between sexes. Molecular studies of the species were carried out and the COI sequence from the present study exhibited 97-100% identity to L. dehaani sequences available in GenBank. The results of the study form a basis of knowledge and the findings could be beneficial for further detailed studies in the country, and other regions where the species exists.

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