Abstract
Cladistic and phenetic relationships of 51 eubrachyuran crab genera, comprising 36 genera of marine crabs and 18 genera of true freshwater crabs from 7 families, were investigated using 121 parsimony-informative adult morphological characters. The data matrix was subjected to four different treatments: (1) a cladistic analysis with a combination of unordered and ordered characters, (2) a cladistic analysis with all characters unordered, (3) neighbour-joining, and (4) UPGMA phenetic analyses. The parsimony analysis conducted with a combination of ordered and unordered characters produced a set of hypotheses which supported monophyly of a Pseudothelphusidae+Potamoidea clade. Furthermore, exemplar genera of the Bythograeidae and Pinnotheridae formed an unresolved polytomy with the Pseudothelphusidae+Potamoidea group, the Thoracotremata. The trichodactylid freshwater crabs were positioned as the sister taxon of the basal portunoid Carcinus, but were unresolved relative to other portunoids and geryonids. Second, the parsimony analysis conducted with all characters unordered resulted in a [bythograeid, pseudothelphusid+potamoid, pinnotherid, thoracotreme] group with no hierarchical resolution, which in turn formed a polytomy with a goneplacid+portunoid clade and a polyphyletic Xanthoidea. And third, phenetic groupings of the eubrachyuran genera invariably placed the pseudothelphusids with the potamoids, and this clustered with a group containing the thoracotremes (either in whole or part). Support was thus found for morphological connections among the nontrichodactylid freshwater crabs, thoracotremes, bythograeids, and pinnotherids, and for the placement of the trichodactylids within the Portunoidea. These two latter findings (that used a range of genera from each family) are broadly congruent with a previous cladistic analysis of selected eubrachyuran familial groundpatterns that used a basal exemplar of each marine and freshwater crab family (Sternberg et al., 1999). However, it is clear that the large scale homoplasy identified here may nullify any reliable hypothesis of brachyrhynchan groupings at this stage.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bott, R., 1955. Die Süsswasserkrabben von Africa (Crust., Decap.) und ihre Stammesgeschichte. Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge C (3.3) 1: 213–349.
Bott, R., 1970. Die Süsswasserkrabben von Europa, Asien, Australien und ihre Stammesgeschichte. Abh. Senckenberg naturf. Ges. 526: 1–338.
Cumberlidge, N., 1991. The respiratory system of Globonautes macropus (Rathbun, 1898), a terrestrial freshwater crab from Liberia (Gecarcinucoidea, Gecarcinucidae). Crustaceana 61 (1): 69–80.
Cumberlidge, N., 1999. The freshwater crabs of West Africa. Faune et flore tropicales 35: 1–382 ( IRD, Paris ).
Danser, B. H., 1950. A Theory of Systematics. Bibliotheca Biotheoretica series D, IV, pars 3. E.J. Brill, Leiden: 117–180.
Glaessner, M. F., 1969. Decapoda. In: Moore, R. C. (eds), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part R. Arthropoda 4. Geological Soc. of America 2: R399–533.
Guinct, D., 1977: Donnés nouvelles sur la morphologie, la phylogenèse et la taxonomie des Crustacés Décapodes Brachyoures: Thèse de Doctorat d’État es Sciences, Université Pierre-etMarie-Curie; 2 vols.: i-xv, pp. 1–486, cvi-ssiv; 56 feuilles n.n., 78 figs., 31 pls., 14 tabs.
Guinot, D., 1979: Donnés nouvelles sur la morphologie, la phylogenèse et la taxonomie des Crustacés Décapodes Brachyoures. Mém. Mus. natn. Hist. nat., Paris (A Zool.) 112: 1–354, pls. 1–27.
Guinot, D., B. G. M. Jamieson and C. C. Tudge, 1997. Ultrastructure and relationships of spermatozoa of the freshwater crabs Potamon fluviatile and Potamon ibericum (Crustacea. Decapoda, Potamidae). J. Zool., Lond. 241: 229–244.
Guinot, D. and B. Richer De Forges, 1997. Affinités entre les Hymenosomatidae MacLeay, 1838 et les Inachoididae Dana, 1851 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura ). Zoosystema 19: 453–502.
Maddison, W. P. and D. R. Maddison, 1996. MacClade. Ver. 3. 06. Analysis of Phylogeny and Character Evolution. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
Magalhâes, C. and M. Türkay, 1996a. Taxonomy of the Neotropical freshwater crab family Trichodactylidae. I. The generic system with description of some new genera (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura). Senckenbergiana Biol. 75: 63–95.
Magalhâes, C. Sr. M. Türkay, I996b. Taxonomy of the Neotropical freshwater crab family Trichodactylidae. II. The genera Forsteria, Melocarcinus, Sylviocarcinus and Zilchiopsis (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura). Sencken. Biol. 75: 97–130.
Magalhâes, C. and M. Türkay, 1996e. Taxonomy of the Neotropical freshwater crab family Trichodactylidae. Ill. The genera Fredilocarcinus and Govazana (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura). Sencken. Biol. 75: 13I - 142.
Ng, P. K. L., 1988. The Freshwater Crabs of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Department of Zoology, National University of Singapore, Shinglee Press. pp. 1-viii, 1–156,4 color plates.
Ng, R K. L. and P. Naiyanetr, 1993. New and recently described freshwater crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamidae. Gecarcinucidae and Parathelphusidae) from Thailand. Zool. Verhandel. 284: 1–117.
Ng, P. K. L. and G. Rodriguez, 1995. Freshwater crabs as poor zoogeographical indicators: a critique of Banarescu (1990). Crustaceana 68 (5): 636–645.
Ng, P. K. L., Z. Stevcic and G. Pretzmann, 1995. A revision of the family Deckeniidae Ortmann, 1897 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamoidea), with description of a new genus (Gecarcinucoidea: Gecarcinucidae) from the Seychelles, Indian Ocean. J. nat. Hist., Lond. 29: 581–600.
Pretzmann, G., 1973. Grundlagen und Ergebnisse der Systematik der Pseudothelphusidae. Z. zool. Syst. Evol. Forsch. I I: 196218.
Rodriguez, G., 1982. Les crabes d’eau douce d’Amerique. Familie des Pseudothelphusidae. Faune Tropicale 22: 1–223 ( ORSTOM, Paris ).
Rodriguez, G., 1986. Centers of radiation of freshwater crabs in the Neotropics. Crust. Issues 4: 51–67.
Rodriguez, G., 1992. The freshwater crabs of America. Family Trichodactylidae and a supplement to the family Pseudothelphusidae. Faune Tropicale 31: l-189. ( ORSTOM, Paris).
Swofford, D. L., 2000. PAUP-Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony. Ver. 4. 0 Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
Taylor, H. H. and P. Greenaway, 1979. The structure of the gills and lungs of the arid-zone crab, Holthuisana (Austrothelphusa) transversa (Martens) ( Sundathelphusidae: Brachyura) including observations on arterial vessels within the gills. J. Zool. 189: 359–384.
Thomson, K. S., 1988. Morphogenesis and Evolution. Oxford University Press, New York.
Sternberg, R. von, N. Cumberlidge and G. Rodriguez. 1999. On the marine sister groups of the freshwater crabs ( Crustacea: Decapoda). J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 37: 19–38.
Sternberg, R. Von and N. Cumberlidge, 1999. A cladistic analysis of the genus Platythelphusa A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Decapoda: Potamoidea: Platythelphusidae) with comments on the phylogenetic position of the group. J. nat. Hist. 33: 493–511.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
v. Sternberg, R., Cumberlidge, N. (2001). Notes on the position of the true freshwater crabs within the brachyrhynchan Eubrachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura). In: Paula, J.P.M., Flores, A.A.V., Fransen, C.H.J.M. (eds) Advances in Decapod Crustacean Research. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 154. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0645-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0645-2_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5688-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0645-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive