Denis Santos
- New crab species found in Mindanao
- Biologists discovered new breed of freshwater crabs
The whole Mindanao, the universe rather, is once again #shookt after scientists from South Cotabato found a new species of freshwater crab.
‘Collaborative work’
According to a report from GMA News Online, one of the biologists who found out the new breed, Jose C.E. Mendoza, said that the discovery took place at Barangay Seloton, Lake Sebu in South Cotabato. His co-author happened to purchase a suspicious crab from a vendor.
These two celebrated biologists are a Filipino Pride. Mendoza is a lecturer at the National University of Singapore while Emerson Y. Sy, his co-author, is currently working in the Philippine Center for Terrestrial and Aquatic Research.
Their history-bending discovery will be published in the Crustacena, a Michael Türkay memorial journal. Also, the specific name of the new species was coined after him–Sundathelphusa miguelito.
Importance
Mendoza also highlighted the importance of their discovery. “Importante ang discovery na ito because of the very nature of freshwater crabs. As their name suggests, they are highly dependent on good and healthy freshwater habitats, and because of this, they tend to have very limited distribution ranges,” he said.
However, this species can be endemic to Mindanao and worthy of ‘conservation and further study’. The discovery is just the first step of acknowledging this species.
Is it edible? According to the two, yes. But they are known as vectors of lung flukes which cause paragonimiasis to someone who eats them raw.
