First record of the crab, Droippe quadridens (Fabricius, 1793) (Brachyura: Dorippidae), from the Iraqi coastal waters of the NW Arabian Gulf, with notes on the occurrence of seven species of crabs in the region

摘要

The present study is important in concerning the ecological and classification of the native and invasivespecies to the Iraqi coast in the north-west of the Arabian Gulf. It has been noted that there is a recent trend torecord many decapod crustaceans species in general and marine crabs in particular. The aim of the presencearticle is to find out diversity and distribution of the dorippid crabs (family: Dorippidae) in addition to otherbrachyuran crabs species in the subtidal zone along the Iraqi coast. The present study was conducted insummer and winter months from April 2016 to March 2017. Three sites for collection of samples along theIraqi coast were selected, site 1 in Khor Abudallah canal, site 2 in the coastal region around south Al-Fao town,and site 3 in Rass Al-Besha area. Sampling was carried out using a shrimp’s trawler nets. One of the importantresults of this study is that specimens of the crab Dorippe quadridens (Fabricius, 1793) were recorded for thefirst time along the Iraqi coasts. During this survey, seven species of other Brachyuran crabs were identified;belonging to the seven families. The study recommended continuous monitoring of the brachyuran crabs andother invertebrates species that inhabiting the Iraqi coast in order to provide basic information on the speciesdiversity and distribution of marine crabs inhabiting this harsh environment.