ANOMURAN SPECIES (CRUSTÁCEA, DECAPODA) AND THEIR ECOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION AT FORTALEZA BAY SUBLITTORAL, UBATUBA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL Maria Lucia Negreiros-Fransozo^ Adilson Fransozo^ Fernando Luis Medina Mantelatto^ Marcelo Antonio Amaro Pinheiro^ Sandro Santos'* ABSTRACT The composition and distribution of the anomuran species which occur along the non-consoli-dated sublittoral of Fortaleza bay, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil, were determined. Samplings were monthly carried out from November 1988 to October 1989 in 7 transects of 1 km each using a shrimp fishing boat equipped with two otter-trawls. Seven anomuran species of the families Diogenidae, Paguridae and Porcellanidae were recorded. The most abundant species wereLoxopagurus loxochelis (Moreira, 1901), Dardanus insignis (Saussure, 1858) and Isocheles sawayai (Forest & Saint Laurent, 1967). The crabs were found in 1 1 genera of gastropod shells, with a predominance of Thais Röding, 1798 and Oliv anciliar ia Orbigny, 1839. The spatial distribution of the anomurans was heterogeneous. The highest incidence of those animais occurring in the transect II is probably associated with the features of bottom Sediment. KEYWORDS. Anomura, ecological distribution, diversity, Brazilian coast. INTRODUCTION According to McLaughlin (1983), pagurid crabs comprise more than 800 species in 86 genera and six families being 12 species semiterrestrial and the remainder, marine. They represent a parcel of notorious importance in the inter-tidal and moderately deep benthic Community, where they play an important role in the marine food chain. 1. Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências e Centro de Aquicultura da UNESP, 18618-000 Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil. 2. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, USP, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brasil. 3. Departamento de Biologia Aplicada, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, UNESP, 14870-000 Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brasil. 4. Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Exatas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97119-800 Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Iheringia, Sér. Zool., Porto Alegre, (83): 187-194, 30 out. 1997
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