This elusive crab at Changi has never been seen before! Although this shore is quite accessible, and extensively studied for over a hundred years! Perhaps because the crab burrows away so quickly!
Also new records of mangrove crab from Changi and Lim Chu Kang, and of a cicada from another accessible area: Pasir Ris mangroves!
Never-seen-before crab from Changi
A new record of a crab
Notopus dorsipes at Changi! In fact, this represents the first record of the superfamily Raninoidea de Haan, 1839, in Singapore and on the Sunda Shelf.
The authors add that this record from an intertidal sand bank in Changi is remarkable as it has never been found despite extensive dredging and collecting in Singapore which began over a hundred years ago. Further collections and studies in Singapore have also not turned up the presence of this species. Read more in Low, M. E. Y. & S. K. Tan, 2012.
Notopus dorsipes (Linnaeus) in Singapore: First record of the brachyuran superfamily Raninoidea (Crustacea: Decapoda) on the Sunda Shelf.
Nature in Singapore,
5: 19–25. [
PDF, 789 KB]
Hairy new find in the mangroves!
A new record of a mangrove crab,
Heteropilumnus sasekumari collected from among others, Changi and Lim Chu Kang mangroves!
The authors highlight that there are lots of crabs in Singapore's mangrove patches, despite their limited size and fragmented nature. Ongoing surveys and studies are likely to yield further new records and/or undescribed species. Read more in Lee, B. Y. & N. K. Ng, 2012. New record of the mangrove crab,
Heteropilumnus sasekumari (Serène, 1971) (Crustacea: Brachyura: Pilumnidae) from Singapore.
Nature in Singapore,
5: 57–59. [
PDF, 740 KB]
New singer in the mangroves of Pasir Ris!
Their shrill loud calls often reverberate in the mangroves but the singers hard to spot. This study revealed a new record of a cicada
Purana usnani from Pasir Ris mangroves!
The authors shared that between Jun–Jul.2011, a healthy population of
Purana usnani was found to occur in the landward edge of the mangrove forests of Pasir Ris at the north-eastern corner of Singapore Island. On days with fine, sunny weather, male cicadas were regularly heard and sometimes observed calling while perched on trees at eye-level and beyond. Female cicadas were also seen individually, often well camouflaged against the pale bark. Read more in Leong, T. M., 2012. Record of the cicada,
Purana usnani Duffels & Schouten in Singapore, with preliminary acoustic analysis (Homoptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae).
Nature in Singapore,
5: 13–17. [
PDF, 676 KB] Download sound clip
here (1.80 MB)
This is just a selection of some of the many fascinating paper on the
Nature in Singapore website of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, the National University of Singapore.
