New collections of freshwater crabs from northern Madagascar, with the description of a new species of Foza Reed & Cumberlidge, 2006 (Brachyura, Potamonautidae), and comments on their conservation status

  • Neil Cumberlidge Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan 49855-5301
  • Sebastian Klaus Dept. of Ecology and Evolution, J.W. Goethe-University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main
  • Kirstin S. Meyer Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon, P.O. Box 5389, Charleston, Oregon 97420
  • Jennifer C. Koppin Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan 49855-5301
Keywords: Crustacea, taxonomy, Foza, new species, Madagascar, conservation

Abstract

We report here on recent collections of freshwater crabs from Antsiranana Province, northern Madagascar. The specimens belong to three species, one of which is new to science and is described here. This raises the number of species of freshwater crabs found in Madagascar to 17. All are endemic to the island and all belong to the Afrotropical family Potamonautidae Bott, 1970. The new species, Foza manonae sp. nov., is compared to other species in this genus, and an updated key is provided. It is distinguished from the other three congeners by characters of the male first gonopod, sternum, carapace, and cheliped. The conservation status of the Malagasy freshwater crab fauna is summarized and discussed in light of the new material reported on here belonging to two other species, Madagapotamon humberti Bott, 1965 and Foza ambohitra Cumberlidge & Meyer, 2009.

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Published
2015-01-15
How to Cite
Cumberlidge, N., Klaus, S., Meyer, K. S., & Koppin, J. C. (2015). New collections of freshwater crabs from northern Madagascar, with the description of a new species of Foza Reed & Cumberlidge, 2006 (Brachyura, Potamonautidae), and comments on their conservation status. European Journal of Taxonomy, (109). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2015.109