First occurrence report of the brachyuran crab Eucrate indica Castro & Ng, 2010 (Decapoda: Euryplacidae) from Odisha coast

Abstract

The present article reports the first occurrence record of the brachyuran crab Eucrate indica Castro & Ng, 2010 of the family Euryplacidae from the Odisha coast. Four individuals of the species were collected from Dhabaleswar beach during August 2023. Previously, the species was recorded only in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh along the Indian coast. Earlier, the genus Eucrate De Haan, 1835 was represented by a single species along the Odisha coast. With the present report, the species count in Odisha under this genus has risen to two, enhancing the state’s marine faunal diversity.