Appendage abnormalities in the edible mud crab genus Scylla De Haan, 1833 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae)

Introduction and materialDeformations, also known as morphological anomalies, are occasionally found in various species of decapod crustaceans (Cole, 1910; Da Silva & Shinozaki-Mendes, 2018). The body parts of crustaceans for which structural aberrations have been reported include chelipeds (Cole, 1910; James, 1966; Matsubara, 2011), walking legs (Nickerson & Gray, Jr., 1967), pleon (Fernandes et al., 2011; Parkes et al., 2011; Araújo & Calado, 2012), cephalothorax (Primavera & Quinitio, 2000), sexual appendages (Rodriguez & Campos, 2000; Fernandes et al., 2011), and carapace shape and spination (Fuseya & Watanabe, 1999; Rasheed et al., 2014). Morphological deformations can develop as a result