High genetic similarities between Portunus pelagicus from Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson and Batu Pahat, Johor as inferred from mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase I (COI) sequences

The blue swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) is an edible crab that occurs in shallow tropical and temperate coastal and estuarine waters throughout the Indo-West Pacific region, from east Africa to Japan and northern New Zealand (Kailola et al., 1993Romano & Zeng, 2006). Within Peninsular Malaysia, this species is distributed along the coastal lines of both the Strait of Malacca (west) and the South China Sea (east) (Naiyanetr, 1998). The P. pelagicus supports the commercial fisheries and its important component to recreational fisheries in Malaysia and other countries (Sumpton et al., 1989). This species attains high demand in the internal and export market due to their delicacy (Maheswarudu et al., 2008). An occurrence of an increasingly large proportion of small sizes of wild-caught Portunid crabs at present suggests overexploitation of this species. (Copied from article)