New distributional record of Charybdis japonica, Coenobita violascens, Galene bispinosa, and Portunus reticulatus (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Bangladesh waters of the Bay of Bengal

This study confirms the new record of four crab species (three Brachyura and one Anomura) from Bangladesh waters of the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal. The species were first identified based on traditional morphometric and meristic characteristics. This has been further supported by the molecular characterization of the species, based on the partial sequencing of the barcode region in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) genes. Morphological and molecular characterization confirmed the crab species as Charybdis japonica (A. Milne-Edwards, 1861), Coenobita violascens (Heller, 1862), Galene bispinosa (Herbst, 1783) and Portunus reticulatus (Herbst, 1799). With this report, new records of four crab species have been added in the marine diversity treasure of Bangladesh, and this also updates the geographical distribution of the species. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study confirms the discovery of four new crab species in the northern waters of the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, using traditional morphological and molecular characteristics to identify them and update their geographical distribution.