Species designation requires new name for Gulf of Mexico marsh crab, restricting Sesarma reticulatum (Say, 1817) to the Atlantic seaboard of North America (Decapoda, Sesarmidae)

What is it about?

The common marsh crab Sesarma reticulatum is found along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. The warm-temperate populations from the Gulf of Mexico, however, although related to S. reticulatum, have been long regarded as being a different species, but never officially described. Here a review of the evidence collected during three decades underpinning the separation between the two species is presented, including previous observations based on physiology, ecology, reproduction, blood hemocyanin proteins, and isozymes, together with newly obtained genetic sequences and a comparative morphological study. The new species is formally described, and the distribution of S. reticulatum is consequently restricted to the U.S. Atlantic seaboard, from the Woods Hole region of Massachusetts to the Indian River region on the east coast of Florida. The new species is named Sesarma schubarti in honor of the late Christoph D. Schubart, a cherished colleague who contributed extensively to knowledge of theses and related crabs over his unfortunately abbreviated career.

Featured Image