Mangaluru: Rare Purple Crabs are seen in the Western Ghats in the district of Uttara Kannada recently.
Dr.
MS Mustak, the Department of Applied Zoology, University of Mangalore, said that the students of PhD Supret Kadkol, saw rare crabs, purple, when he traveled from the Ghat to the beach.
The crab is on sunbathing, he said.
“The six mature crabs are seen on the roadside and under rocks around terrestrial habitat, and according to this freshwater purple crab literature is only found during the rainy season.
The locals present there were also surprised by the color of the crab.
Preliminary study and morphometric analysis revealed that crabs Purple belongs to Ghatiana’s genus.
We have not confirmed whether it is a new species carried out by molecular taxonomic analysis in the lab, “said Dr.
Messak.
The Purple Tree Crab was first seen by Arjun Kamdar and the 2015 Accident Team from the rain tree hole in Amboli, Maharashtra.
Then it was seen in 2017 in the Sharavathi valley in Shivamogga.
Then visible by the conservation team and wildlife awareness.
“This species looks different from the previously reported,” said Dr.
Messak.