Seasonal occurrence and distribition of brachyuran crabs caught along the Suez Canal, Egypt

The present study aimed to document the brachyuran crab fauna caught by fishing nets operating in the Suez Canal and study their occurrence and seasonal distribution along the canal during the period from April 2011 to March 2012. Five sampling locations were selected representing the known landing sites along the canal. Eleven species of crabs belonging to nine families were recorded, of them Dorippe quadridens and Cryptodromia hilgendorfi are recorded for the first time in the Suez Canal. The blue swimming crab Portunus pelagicus was the most distributed species in the study sites, followed by the spider crab Hyastenus hilgendorfi, while Coleusia signata and Cryptodromia hilgendorfi were the least common species. The present study discussed the seasonal occurrence and distribution of the recorded species and compared them with the previous studies conducted on the Suez Canal. The study recommended continuous monitoring of the brachyuran crabs fauna together with other crustaceans inhabiting the canal in order to provide an updated inventory and establish a database for the fauna of this unstable environment.