Inventory, Systematic and Biogeography of Brachyuran Crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) on the Tunisian Coast

Abstract

Several prospects on the northern, central and southern Tunisian coasts were carried out for the sake of a better interpretation of Brachyuran species distribution. Animals were either, captured by hand, caught with a fine mesh net or brought back by fishermen in nets or dredges. A total of 21 species belonging to twelve families and inhabiting different substrates were collected and divided into littoral species and species of depth. Five species were reported for the first time, in Tunisia. The littoral species are Carcinus aestuarii, Liocarcinus corrugatus, Liocarcinus vernalis, Pachygrapsus marmoratus, Pachygrapsus maurus, Brachynotus sexdentatus, Eriphia verrucosa, Maja squinado, Maja crispata, Acanthonyx lunulatus and Pisa tetraodon. The species of depths are Portunus hastatus, Euchirograpsus liguricus, Xantho granulicarpus, Ilia nucleus, Inachus dorsettensis, Lissa chiragra, Pisa corallina, Pisa armata, Calappa granulata and Dromia personata. All these species are reported in the Mediterranean. Some are reported for the first time in Tunisia: P. maurus, A. lunulatus, P. hastatus, E. liguricus, L. chiragra and P. corallina. In order to know the frequency of each species, the presence index was calculated. Carcinus aestuarii present in 91% of prospected stations is the most frequent and wide-distributed brachyuran species along Tunisian coasts.