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Morphological and molecular evidence for a new endemic freshwater crab, Sesarma ayatum sp. n., (Grapsidae, Sesarminae) from eastern Jamaica
Author(s) -
SCHUBART CHRISTOPH D.,
REIMER JENS,
DIESEL RUDOLF
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
zoologica scripta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.204
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1463-6409
pISSN - 0300-3256
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6409.1998.tb00468.x
Subject(s) - biology , allopatric speciation , gonopod , sensu , freshwater crab , zoology , phylogeography , ecology , range (aeronautics) , decapoda , morphometrics , phylogenetics , crustacean , population , gene , genetics , demography , materials science , sociology , composite material , genus
Recent morphological studies have shown that the Jamaican mountain stream crab, Sesarma bidentatum Benedict, 1892 (Sensu Abele 1992), consists of several allopatric forms. Three new species have been described from western Jamaica (summarized in Reimer et al. 1998) restricting the range of S. bidentatum to central and eastern Jamaica. In this study we used morphology and genetic markers to further distinguish crab populations from different East Jamaican river systems. Morphological characters such as the shape of male gonopods, front, chelar carpus, and walking legs, as well as mtDNA sequence (16s rRNA gene) comparisons were consistent in the separation of populations of S. bidentatum into two distinct groups. A new species, Sesarma ayatum sp. n., is described with a distribution from easternmost Jamaica to the eastern Blue Mountains.