first record of the barnacle Chelonibia patula (Ranzani, 1818), hosted by the swimming crab Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775), in the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia)

2024/12/30 by KARAA, Sami, ENAJJAR, Samira, GLID, Aziza +1
#CHELONIBIA PATULA #Carapace #Chelonibia patula #Females #Gulf of Gabes #Hosts #Males #Marine #Marine crustaceans #New records #Portunus segnis #Sex ratio #Tunisia

paper · doi:10.71754/instm.bulletin.v45.29

Abstract

During July 2017, eight specimens of the crab Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775), infested by Chelonibia patula (Ranzani, 1818) were collected in the Gulf of Gabès (South-East of Tunisia). The barnacles were attached to the carapace and clamps of their hosts. This cosmopolitan barnacle species is reported for the first time, hosted by P. segnis in the Gulf of Gabès. The large sized crabs host more barnacles than small crabs. Males are more infested by barnacles than females.

Related

• Premier signalement du crabe bleu Portunus segnis (Forskal,1775) dans le Sud du Golfe de Hammamet (Centre-Est de la Tunisie)
• Parasites de crustacés décapodes brachyoures du golfe et du lac de Tunis (Note préliminaire)
• BioInvasions Records
• First record of the barnacle Conchoderma virgatum Spengler 1789 on Belone belone (Linnaeus, 1760) caught from Tunisian Central Mediterranean
• Rapid expansion of a Lessepsian migrant crab, Gonioinfradens giardi (Crustacea, Brachyura, Portunidae), in the Ionian Sea: New records and early evidence of establishment