Volume 4 - No: 2
Some Brachyuran Crab Records from Coastal Waters of the Mersin Bay, Northeastern Mediterranean Coast of Turkey
- Deniz Ayas
Faculty of Fisheries, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
- Moez Shaiek
Unité de recherche "Exploitation des milieuxaquatiques" (UR 14AGRO1), InstitutSupérieur de Pêcheetd’Aquaculture de Bizerte, BP15Rimel 7080 MenzelJemil Bizerte, Tunisia, AssociationMéditerranée Action-Nature (MAN, NGO), 1 rue d’Istanbul, 7000 Bizerte-Tunisia
- Nuray Çiftçi
Faculty of Fisheries, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
nciftci@mersin.edu.tr
- Mısra Bakan
Faculty of Fisheries, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
Keywords: Brachyuran crab, coastal waters, Mersin Bay, Turkey
Abstract
Eight crab species (Eriphia verrucosa, Maja squinado, Calappa granulata, Charybdis (Goniohellenus) longicollis, Callinectes sapidus, Atergatis roseus, Portunus segnis, Maja crispata) were sampled from Mersin Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean) between September 2017 and April 2018. Three species belong to the family of Portunidae while two Maja species represent Majidae. The other crabs represent the families of Calappidae, Xanthidae, and Eriphidae. All specimens were preserved in ethanol and were deposited in the Museum of the Systematic, Faculty of Fisheries, Mersin University (catalogue number:MEUDC-17-12-002 - MEUDC-18-12-009). Previous records of these crabs in the Mediterranean Sea were determined as their distributions were compared. All crab samples in the study are distributed in the Northeastern Mediterranean Sea commonly.