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Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems

The taxonomy of freshwater crabs requires a paradigm change in methodological approaches, particularly in investigations that use morphological techniques. The traditional morphometric approach (two-dimensional measurements) tends to be inappropriate for the identification of freshwater crabs due to...

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Autores principales: Grinang, Jongkar, Das, Indraneil, Ng, Peter K.L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6378089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30783559
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6205
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author Grinang, Jongkar
Das, Indraneil
Ng, Peter K.L.
author_facet Grinang, Jongkar
Das, Indraneil
Ng, Peter K.L.
author_sort Grinang, Jongkar
collection PubMed
description The taxonomy of freshwater crabs requires a paradigm change in methodological approaches, particularly in investigations that use morphological techniques. The traditional morphometric approach (two-dimensional measurements) tends to be inappropriate for the identification of freshwater crabs due to their variable external morphology and lack of gonopods (conventionally used for the identification of male crabs) in females. In this study, we explore the potential use of the geometric morphometric technique for identification of female freshwater crabs, and identify taxonomic key characteristics of species. The shape of the carapace could be a good characteristic for the identification of female crabs, especially when the geometric morphometric technique is used. It was observed that the shape of the carapace has an advantage over the shape of the pleon and chela because its relatively flat orientation allows more consistent and easier data preparation for geometric morphometric analysis. The geometric morphometric technique is inexpensive, relatively less time consuming to employ, and accurate. This technique is convenient when dissection to examine the gonopods is not possible, which can damage the specimen in the case of endangered or rare species. Since the technique was used herein for only two species, more compelling and extensive evidence is needed before the reliability of the method can be proven.
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spelling pubmed-63780892019-02-19 Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems Grinang, Jongkar Das, Indraneil Ng, Peter K.L. PeerJ Mathematical Biology The taxonomy of freshwater crabs requires a paradigm change in methodological approaches, particularly in investigations that use morphological techniques. The traditional morphometric approach (two-dimensional measurements) tends to be inappropriate for the identification of freshwater crabs due to their variable external morphology and lack of gonopods (conventionally used for the identification of male crabs) in females. In this study, we explore the potential use of the geometric morphometric technique for identification of female freshwater crabs, and identify taxonomic key characteristics of species. The shape of the carapace could be a good characteristic for the identification of female crabs, especially when the geometric morphometric technique is used. It was observed that the shape of the carapace has an advantage over the shape of the pleon and chela because its relatively flat orientation allows more consistent and easier data preparation for geometric morphometric analysis. The geometric morphometric technique is inexpensive, relatively less time consuming to employ, and accurate. This technique is convenient when dissection to examine the gonopods is not possible, which can damage the specimen in the case of endangered or rare species. Since the technique was used herein for only two species, more compelling and extensive evidence is needed before the reliability of the method can be proven. PeerJ Inc. 2019-02-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6378089/ /pubmed/30783559 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6205 Text en © 2019 Grinang et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Mathematical Biology
Grinang, Jongkar
Das, Indraneil
Ng, Peter K.L.
Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
title Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
title_full Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
title_fullStr Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
title_full_unstemmed Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
title_short Geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of Sarawak (Borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
title_sort geometric morphometric analysis in female freshwater crabs of sarawak (borneo) permits addressing taxonomy-related problems
topic Mathematical Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6378089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30783559
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6205
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