King crabs and squat lobsters in deep waters off Mozambique (Indian Ocean) Isabel Mu~noz*1, Eva Garc´ıaIsarch1, Jose A. Cuesta2 and Enrique Macpherson3 *Corresponding author: [email protected] 1Instituto Espa~nolde Oceanograf´ıa(C´adiz),Puerto Pesquero, Muelle de Levante, s/n 11006 C´adiz 2instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andaluc´ıa(ICMAN-CSIC) Calle Republica Saharaui, 4, 11519 Puerto Real, C´adiz 3Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) Carrer Acc´esCala Sant Francesc, 14, 17300 Blanes, Girona Keywords: Galatheoidea, Lithodoidea, Mozambique, Deep waters, Barcoding Introduction This work presents the preliminary results of the Ph.D Project \Study of deep-sea decapod crustaceans com- munities in waters off Mozambique. Comparative with others African communities". In this study, obtained results after the revision of the Lithodoidea and Galatheoidea superfamilies belonging to the Infraorder Anomura, are presented. As well as the distribution of the main species identified in the study area. This re- vision has been performed from a morphological and genetic point of view. In the area covered by this study, as well as the waters that surround Mozambique (mainly South Africa and Madagascar), there are works on certain families, such as chirostylid and galatheid crustaceans (Baba, 1989). Recently some inventories have also been published on decapods from various islands of the French tropical Indo-Pacific (Poupin, 2016) One of the most recent works is a checklist that encompasses all studies performed to date on decapods in the waters of Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique (Emmerson, 2016). However, these are very specific taxonomic studies, descriptions of species or genre review, but little or nothing regarding aspects such as the composition, abundance and distribution of the communities that make up the species of these groups previously cited. Materials and methods The specimens studied for this work belong to the Collection of Decapod and Stomatopod Crustaceans of the Oceanographic Centre of Cadiz (CCDE-IEO). Specifically, they come from three oceanographic survey carried out in waters of Mozambique by the IEO in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The methodology used to capture the specimens was through a bottom trawling gear (\baka" type). The studied area corresponded to the shelf and slope of Mozambique, at depths from 100 to 700 meters (Figure1). The specimens belonging to two superfamilies (Lithodoidea and Galatheoidea) were reviewed and identified, at the lowest possible taxonomic level by morphology and genetic analysis through sequencing techniques. Molecular analyses were performed based on fragments of two mitochondrial genes, the Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) and the 16S rRNA. Distribution areas and depth ranges of the identified species were analyzed from the survey geo-referenced catch data. 1 Figure 1: Study are.a Results and discussion In the Mozambique surveys, 41 individuals of a single species of Lithodoidea were captured: Lithodes mamil- lifer. They were all collected at depths greater than 588 m and throughout the entire sampling area (from Nampula to the border with South Africa) by the three surveys. Numerous specimens of Galatheoidea were caught, belonging to 3 families (Figure2): Munididae ( Agononida africerta, Munida benguela and Paramunida marionis), Munidopsidae (Munidopsis africana) and Chirostylidae (Uroptychus dentatus and Uroptychus n. sp). Only 36 specimens are conserved in the CCDE-IEOCD and all of them were genetically studied by DNA analysis (16S and COI). All species were collected at deep waters. M. africana, P. marionis and both Uroptychus species were found up to 400 m and A. africerta and M. benguela up to 300 m. Regard- ing the geographical distribution, A. africerta and M. africana were found throughout the entire sampling area, while the rest of the species have only been captured from the southern half to the border with South Africa. The only specimen identified as P. marionis was captured near the Bazaruto Island. Galatheoidea is one of the most diverse group of decapod crustaceans, with more than 250 species known in the Indian Ocean (Emmerson, 2016) and a large number of new species are being described in recent years. Two of the 6 species found in the "Mozambique" surveys, were recently described (Cabezas et al., 2010; Poore and Andreakis, 2012) even after the date of the surveys and one is a new species in process of description (Uroptychus n. sp.). This reveals the importance of expanding the knowledge of this large taxonomic group. 2 Figure 2: Specimens photographed on board (A: Lithodes mamillifer, adult B: Lithodes mamillifer, juvenil C: Munidopsis africana D: Uroptychus n.sp. E: Munida benguela F: Agononida africerta). Acknowledgments Thanks to all colleagues and crew that make it possible for this type of study to be carried out. References Baba, K., 1989. Chirostylid and galatheid crustacans of Madagascar (Decapoda, Anomura). Bulletin du Mus´eumNational d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris. Section A, Zoologie, biologie et ´ecologieanimales 55, 921{ 975. Cabezas, P., Macpherson, E., Machordom, A., 2010. Taxonomic revision of the genus Paramunida Baba, 1988 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Galatheidae): a morphological and molecular approach. Zootaxa 2712, 1{60. Emmerson, W., 2016. A Guide to, and Checklist for, the Decapoda of Namibia, South Africa and Mozam- bique. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Poore, G., Andreakis, N., 2012. The Agononida incerta species complex unravelled (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Munididae). Zootaxa 3492, 1{26. Poupin, J., 2016. 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