Date: April 11, 2017
Source: The University of Hong
Kong
The Mangrove Ecology and
Evolution Lab, led by Dr Stefano Cannicci at the Swire Institute of Marine
Sciences (SWIMS) and School of Biological Sciences, the University of Hong Kong
(HKU), has recently discovered, described and named a new species of
mangrove-climbing micro-crab from Hong Kong, Haberma tingkok, and published the description in ZooKeys, a peer-reviewed and open access
international journal dedicated to animal taxonomy.
The new species has been given
the scientific name of Haberma tingkok,
since all the specimens found at present were spotted at a height of
approximately 1.5 to 1.8 metres above chart datum, walking along the branches
of the mangroves of the Ting Kok area. The crabs are small, less than a
centimetre long, predominantly dark brown, with a squarish carapace, very long
legs and orange claws. It represents the second endemic mangrove crab species
described in Hong Kong. The previous one, Pseudosesarma
patshuni, was described in 1975.
Discovery of a new endemic
mangrove crab in over 40 years
This endemic tree-crab was
previously unknown to science and it is only known, at present, to have come
from Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong. It is Hong Kong's first truly arboreal crab, i.e.
living on the branches and canopies of mangroves and breathing air. Its closest
relatives, i.e. crabs of the same genus, are only known to be found in the
mangroves of Singapore and Indonesian New Guinea, but they are all normal crabs
that live in the mud -- they do not climb trees.
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