diversity and distribution of true crabs (brachyura) from intertidal rocky shores of qeshm island, persian gulf

rocky shores are one of the most important habitats of marine environment in coastal areas. this study was done in 2010-2011 to investigate the diversity of true crabs in intertidal rocky shores of qeshm island. samples were collected from intertidal zones during the low-tide at 5 stations. the specimens were fixed in 70% etanol and transferred to laboratory for identification. altogether, 15 crab species belonging to 8 families and 14 genus were identified. 4 species were from portunidae, 3 species from eriphiidae, 2 species from majidae,2 species from grapsidae were identified. the others families including euryplacidae, leucociidae, pilumnidae and xanthidae families have the lowest species richness with only 1 species per family. portunidae family with 4 species in intertidal zone had the highest species richness amongst studied stations. 3 species of eriphia smithi from eriphiidae family, leptodius exaratus from xanthidae family and thalamita crenata from portunidae family were present at all three intertidal zones (high tide, mid tide and low tide).