Morphogenetic and molecular insights into coastal crab species: Implications for mangrove biodiversity and conservation

Abstract

Background: There are crab species that live in sandy, rocky and muddy coastal areas. One of the locations with these characteristics is Tabongo Village, Dulupi District, Boalemo Regency, this location has a lot of crab species diversity that has not been well confirmed. Identification of crab species was carried out by morphological and genetic characterization of crab species suspected to be Baptozius vinosus and Ocypode ceratophthalmus. This study aims to characterize the morphological and molecular characteristics of both species to understand their variations and phylogenetic relationships. Methods: Sampling used a handpicking method with purposive sampling to select individuals that have similar characters to the target species. Samples were then analyzed through DNA extraction, amplification, sequencing, and measurement of environmental data (temperature, salinity, pH). Findings: 16S rRNA gene sequence alignment results showed the nucleotide length of B. vinosus 568 bp and O. ceratophthalmus 567 bp. BLAST analysis showed 99.81% similarity between the O. ceratophthalmus specimen and the reference sequence (LC150355.1). Genetic distance analysis showed the closeness of the specimen to the population in Pakistan based on the Neighbor-Joining method (Kimura 2-parameter, bootstrap 1000 times). However, the phylogeny of B. vinosus could not be constructed due to limited sequence data. Conclusion: This study shows that morphogenetic characterization and molecular analysis can reveal the variation and phylogenetic relationships of coastal crab species. Novelty/Originality of this Article: This study provides insights into the morphogenetic characterization of coastal crabs and its implications for conservation and biodiversity of mangrove ecosystems.