NEW RECORD OF OCYPODE CURSOR (LİNNAEUS, 1758) (CRUSTACEA: DECAPODA: OCYPODİDAE) FROM THE TUNİSİAN COASTS, THE CENTRAL MEDİTERRANEAN SEA

04/01/2019 Arda Tonay

New record of Ocypode cursor (Linnaeus, 1758) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ocypodidae) from the Tunisian coasts, the central Mediterranean Sea

Sami Karaa, Jamel Jrijer, Mohamed Nejmeddine Bradai, Imed Jribi

National Institute of Sea Sciences and Technologies, P.O. Box 1035, 3018 Sfax, TUNISIA
Coastal Protection and Planning Agency, TUNISIA
Faculty of Sciences, Biology Department, Sfax University, Sfax, TUNISIA

Abstract

The tufted ghost crab Ocypode cursor (Linnaeus, 1758) is the only Ocypode species present in the Mediterranean Sea. It is widely distributed in the eastern Mediterranean, but its presence in the central Mediterranean Sea is confirmed mainly in the south coasts of Sicily and Malta. The present study reports the first record of the species in the centeral and the southern coasts of Tunisia.

Keywords: Mediterranean, Tunisia, ghost crab, characteristics

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