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Sesarma rotundatum

Manu-a-Taua (PK)

Red-climber Shore-Crab

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Female	75KB
Image:	Male	99KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Red-climber Shore-Crab

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Manu-a-Taua (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Indonesia - Japan - Australia - Fiji - Samoa - Tokelau - n.Cooks - Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, coastal, breed in brachishwater

KEY FEATURES: Carapace 40mm wide. A fast, bright orange-red, long-legged crab.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The taxonomy of this group are under review. Yaldwyn and Wodzicki (1979) separate rotundatum from gardineri and list the Tokelau crab as the latter. If gardineri is a separate species, it is likely that the Pukapuka crab is the same - and presumably the Penrhyn crab.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			Q++

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Sesarma rotundatum Hess
SYNONYMS: Sesarma rotundata; Sesarma gardineri [taxonomy generally under review]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; CRUSTACEA; MALACOSTRACA; EUMALACOSTRACA; Eucarida; Decapoda; Reptantia; Brachyura; Brachygnatha; Brachyrhyncha; GRAPSIDAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: In Pukapuka this species is names Manu-a-Taua, literally 'pet of the Goddess Taua'.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: BPBM-Cat.4354; fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as probably Sesarma rotundatum.

References:
Special Reference: Edmondson 1959; Yaldwyn & Wodzicki 1979;

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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