Denitto, F.; Belmonte, G.; Pastore, M. (2010). Occurrence of the Guinean species Herbstia nitida Manning & Holthuis, 1981 (Decapoda, Brachyura) in a Mediterranean submarine cave and a comparison with the congeneric H. condyliata (Fabricius, 1787). Crustaceana. 83(8): 1017-1024.

199713

10.1163/001121610x513685 [view]

Denitto, F.; Belmonte, G.; Pastore, M.

2010

83(8): 1017-1024

Publication

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Marine caves represent a peculiar habitat, characterized by particular environmental conditions that strongly affect the distribution of many species (Riedl, 1966; Bianchi et al., 1996). The reduced light intensity and the presence of many shelters on the rocky substrate over 360◦ (bottom, walls, and vault of the cave), make submarine caves an elective refuge for many benthonic crustaceans that are traditionally considered a sciaphylous group (Gili & Macpherson, 1987; Pessani & Manconi, 1994; Manconi & Pessani, 2003; Denitto et al., 2009). Among the vagile benthic fauna, many species of Decapoda are found in these habitats (for a recent review, see Manconi & Pessani, 2003) but from a general point of view, scientific literature referring to decapods that occur in submarine caves is still scanty. The present study focuses on Mediterranean crabs belonging to the genus Herbstia, and describes the two species at issue coexisting in a shallow submarine cave in south-east Italy. One of these, H. nitida Manning & Holthuis, 1981, was originally described from coastal waters of the Gulf of Guinea (cf. Manning & Holthuis, 1981), and is a species only recently recorded from the Mediterranean basin (Pastore & Denitto, 2002).

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