Yangcheng Evening News reporter Guo Qi reported: A "picky" new friend - a new species of Shenzhen giant-bellied crab living in the stream of the Shenzhen Ecological Reserve has recently officially debuted. The results of the DNA analysis have confirmed that the Shenzhen giant-bellied crab is an independent species, and the name comes from its discoverer, "post-90s" Dr. Huang Chao, who is the 28th new species of brook crab he discovered.
In November this year, the latest issue of Zoological Studies, an international journal for zoological research, published a research paper by Huang Chao and Mao Siying on the decapods (shrimp and crabs) of The Crustaceans (shrimps and crabs) in Shenzhen. While systematically introducing the diversity of Decapods in Shenzhen, the paper describes a new species named after Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Giant-bellied Crab (Megapleonum shenzhen), filling the research gap in the diversity of large aquatic invertebrates in Shenzhen.
"Proud" brook crab loves to be clean
Among the freshwater crabs that citizens can buy in the aquatic market, the male crab with a sharp triangle in the abdomen and the female crab in the shape of the circle are the unique features of the Shenzhen giant belly crab in that the male has a wide abdomen and the shape is between the abdomen of the general male and female freshwater crab. The Shenzhen giant-bellied crab is the second member of the genus Megalobet and is also endemic to Shenzhen.
Huang Chao, the discoverer of the Shenzhen giant-bellied crab, told reporters that the Shenzhen giant-bellied crab lives in the mountain stream, and in this environment, the water is always circulating, clean and clear and the temperature is low. Stream crabs hatch from eggs to small crabs, and their entire life history is done in the freshwater environment of the stream, and the quality of the stream is crucial.
Huang Chao believes that although Shenzhen is a bustling modern city with a population of more than 12 million, many of Shenzhen's complete ecosystems (such as dapeng Peninsula, WutongShan National Forest Park) and the humid subtropical climate affected by the monsoon provide good conditions for freshwater fauna.
Name the new species after "Shenzhen"
As the discoverer, Huang Chao said that the naming of the "Shenzhen giant-bellied crab" was his proposal. Many of the species of brook crab are very narrowly distributed, and it is more appropriate to name them after the place of collection. At present, The Shenzhen giant-bellied crab is only found in the streams of Shenzhen Paiya Mountain, Luowutian Reservoir and Maluan Mountain at an altitude of about 100 meters. Since follow-up surveys in the mountainous areas around Shenzhen have not found The Shenzhen giant-bellied crab, it is currently believed that the species is endemic to Shenzhen.
So far, Huang Chao has discovered 28 new species of brook crabs. For him, these new discoveries are a reward for his love of aquatic animals. Born in 1991, Huang Chao graduated from Sun Yat-sen University with a bachelor's degree in life sciences and received his Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales in Australia, and is now an independent researcher and freelancer who has been engaged in brook crab research for 10 years.
"Biodiversity is not only a natural heritage of a region, it is also a treasure trove of genes. For this newly discovered species, not to interfere artificially is the best protection. "Shenzhen protects many mountains and forests and streams from development, which provides a home for many aquatic organisms to survive." ”
Edit: Bao Kuo
Source: Golden Sheep Network