New observations on the crustacean fauna of Europa Island, Mozambique Channel (Crustacea, Decapoda)

Abstract

The Crustacea Decapoda of Europa Island have been inventoried during the BIORECIE fieldwork conducted from 7-12 November 2011. Previous records for Europa Island have been also compiled and an updated documented checklist of the species is proposed. In total, 175 decapods are reported for Europa Island, including 61 new records from this study.

The fauna of Europa Island is mainly Indo-West Pacific in its composition. No endemic species have been recognized so far, but 15 species, such as Calcinus rosaceus, Ciliopagurus tricolor, Eriphia smithii or Grapsus fourmanoiri, are distinctive of the Western Indian Ocean region. A comparison with Mayotte Island, also recently inventoried for the decapods, shows that Europa Island fauna is slightly depauperate. This result is attributed to reduced size of the lagoon and mangroves as well as to the geographic isolation of the Island.