Newly discovered crab species faces threat to habitat in Thailand

Mar 3, 2011, 3:09 GMT

An undated Kasetsart University handout photo made available on 03 March 2011, shows a new species of soldier crab recently discovered at Pak Bara Beach in Satun prov EPA/KASETSART UNIVERSITY

Bangkok - Thai scientists say they have discovered a new species of soldier crab, just as the creature's habitat is threatened by development of a new deep-sea port, a news report said Thursday.

The crab was found at Pak Bara Beach in Satun province, 800 kilometres south of Bangkok, by a team of scientists from Bangkok's Kasetsart University during a survey in November.

The Bangkok Post quoted Puntip Wisespongpand, chief of the survey, as saying the newly discovered crab is 15 millimetres long and 14 millimetres wide, has cream-coloured legs and a blue-grey shell.

'We have received an initial confirmation that the sample is a new species of giant soldier crab,' she said. 'However, we need to wait for the DNA result to make sure.'

Puntip said the so-far unnamed crab species faces a threat to its survival because its habitat will be developed under the proposed Pak Bara deep-sea port, now at the feasibility stage, which is part of an expansion of the petrochemical industry in southern Thailand.

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