Molecular barcoding of the Persian Gulf mangrove associated brachyuran crabs

Brachyuran crabs constitute the dominant fauna in intertidal and supratidal coasts of mangrove forests. We sampled the most commonly occurring crab species from the biodiversity rich Persian Gulf mangrove forest. We identified crabs from Camptandriidae, Dotillidae, Ocypodidae, Macrophthalmidae, and Sesarmidae as the most common species in the sampled regions. Molecular barcoding was applied to determine 11 species (29 specimens) of the mangrove crabs. Two mitochondrial genes were used to barcode the specimens and these were included in a larger phylogenetic data set. Many of the analyzed species showed a close phylogenetic relationship with species from the Northern Arabian Sea. The results provide the first steps to study the genetic diversity of the mangrove crab community along the Iranian coasts to support protection and management of mangrove ecosystems and its associated taxa.