Abstract
A sand-bubbler crab, Scopimera curtelsona Shen, 1936, previously known only from Hainan, China, is reported from Hong Kong. By searching past taxonomic records and examining local material, an increasing trend of S. curtelsona abundance was observed in comparison with another common sympatric dotillid, S. intermedia Balss, 1934, in Hong Kong since the early 2000s. This scenario is hypothesized to represent a northward range expansion of this tropical species from Hainan, China, by 500 km, coinciding with an increase in sea surface temperatures in Hong Kong, which are now at comparable levels with previous type locality temperatures. At a smaller scale, S. curtelsona was sympatric with two other dotillids: S. intermedia and Dotilla wichmanni De Man, 1892, on local sandflats, where the three species occupied different zones along the tidal gradient possibly due to the interaction between the variation in sediment characteristics and the crabs' maxillipedal setation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 520-532 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Zootaxa |
| Volume | 4652 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Aug 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
TYH was supported by a postgraduate scholarship from the University of Hong Kong. KJHW wishes to thank Dr. Benny K. K. Chan (Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan) for access of materials under his care, and confirming identifications via molecular techniques. TYH thanks Miss Laura Wong and staff in Electron Microscope Unit, HKU, for technical assistance, as well as Richard Cheung and Roy Cheung for field assistance. The authors would also like to thank Prof. Gray A. Williams (University of Hong Kong), Dr. Benny K. K. Chan and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments in improving the manuscript.Keywords
- Deposit-feeding
- Habitat partitioning
- Range shift
- Sediments
- Sympatry