Abstract
Crustaceans that include lobsters, crayfish, crabs, prawns, shrimps, and barnacles are the most important part of the macrobenthic fauna. Crabs belong to the infraorder Brachyura and are one of the dominating groups of decapod crustaceans. Indian mangroves alone are serving as a good habitat for over 138 brachyuran crab species. The total number of freshwater crab species forms 65 % of brachyuran species. But due to limitation in dispersal abilities, crabs have tended to be endemic to small areas; as a result, a large proportion of them are threatened to extinction. Culturing of crabs under captivity seems to alleviate the threat to some extent. Due to the multiple roles of crabs such as indicators of pollution, a good source of protein, an important stratum in the food web, and having direct and indirect socioeconomic, medicinal, and sociocultural values, more attention needs to be paid to explore the potential of different crab species for their economic and/or medicinal value. The present study investigates the antimicrobial and antifungal activity of the hemolymph of the South Indian field crab, Oziotelphusa senex senex.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Prof. Shakunthala Sridhara, ICAR Emeritus Scientist, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, and Prof. A. K. Chakravarthy, Head, Division of Entomology and Nematology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, for providing the opportunity to contribute this chapter for the book.
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Varada, K., Vempalli, S., Sridevi, V., Dandala, C.S.R. (2016). Phylogenetic Status, Diversity, Economic and Medicinal Importance of Crabs. In: Chakravarthy, A., Sridhara, S. (eds) Arthropod Diversity and Conservation in the Tropics and Sub-tropics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1518-2_6
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