A dataset of distribution of the Geothelphusa (Decapoda: Potamidae) with their environmental parameters and stream indicators in eastern and southern Taiwan

ChihNan Huang1, ChengHsiung Yang1

1 Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute, , Taiwan

Corresponding author(s): ChihNan Huang (cnhuang@tesri.gov.tw)ChengHsiung Yang

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Huang C, Yang C (2023): A dataset of distribution of the Geothelphusa (Decapoda: Potamidae) with their environmental parameters and stream indicators in eastern and southern Taiwan. v1.6. Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute. Dataset/Samplingevent. https://ipt.taibif.tw/resource?r=crab-indicator&v=1.6

Abstract

This dataset includes data of the freshwater crab genus Geothelphusa (Decapoda: Potamidae), their environmental parameters and stream indicators in eastern and southern Taiwan. This dataset is the result of 146 surveys (sampling events) of freshwater crab species and stream environment from 2013 to 2015 in 42 sampling sites throughout Taiwan, and a total of 12 species and 1,006 crabs of the Geothelphusa were recorded. The crab data include ‎existence or not, carapace width, carapace length, wet weight and sex. The stream environmental data include water temperature, pH value, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and three indicators (River Pollution Index, RPI; Water Quality Index 7, WQI7; citizen Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index, cQHEI).

Keywords: Samplingevent?
Occurrence

Project details

Project title: Constructing monitoring system for the freshwater ecosystem – The study on indicator species of the Geothelphusa
Personnel: ChihNan Huang
Funding: Endemic Species Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan
Study area descriptions/descriptor: Twenty-two sites (52.4%) have been monitored from 2011 located in southern Taiwan, and the other 20 sites are located in the eastern Taiwan.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.taibif.tw/resource?r=crab-indicator

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: All the crabs were identified and recorded to species, but a few individuals labelled as "Uncertain" were too small to identify. There were 12 species and 1,006 crabs of the Geothelphusa recorded.
Taxonomic ranks
Genus: Geothelphusa
Species: Geothelphusa albogilva, Geothelphusa bicolor, Geothelphusa caesia, Geothelphusa cinerea, Geothelphusa ferruginea, Geothelphusa ilan, Geothelphusa lili, Geothelphusa olea, Geothelphusa pingtung, Geothelphusa shernshan, Geothelphusa tawu, Geothelphusa tsayae
Common names: 黃灰澤蟹, 雙色澤蟹, 藍灰澤蟹, 灰甲澤蟹, 銹色澤蟹, 宜蘭澤蟹, 力里澤蟹, 黃綠澤蟹, 屏東澤蟹, 神山澤蟹, 大武澤蟹, 蔡氏澤蟹, 澤蟹

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: There were 42 study sites ranging from 120.601295 to 121.6641944 and 21.95916 to 24.75119444.

Coordinates: 21°57'32.98''N and 24°45'4.3''N Latitude; 120°36'4.66''E and 121°39'51.1''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: June 14, 2013 - June 11, 2015

Methods

Method step description: The water sampling and the seven parameters required to calculate two water quality indicators, River Pollution Index and Water Quality Index, including pH value, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), suspended solids (SS), fecal coliform (FC) and total phosphorus (TP), were operated following the protocols published by Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration in 2013.
Study extent description: The freshwater crabs appear in almost all clean freshwater bodies, from moist lowland forests to rugged mountains (Cumberlidge et al. 2009). There are 57 recognized Geothelphusa species, with 39 species in Taiwan (Shy et al. 2021). Over twenty Taiwanese Geothelphusa species live in stream ecosystems below 500 m above sea level (Shy and Lee 2009). In this paper, the 42 sampling sites in Taiwan (Fig. 1) are all natural habitats of streams with an elevation distribution of 2-998 m, and 33 sites (78.6%) are below 500 m altitude. The data of the 22 monitoring sites were collected quarterly from the summer of 2013 to the summer of 2015, but some surveys were abandoned due to a lack of water-related data for the drought. The other 20 sites were surveyed only once in the summer and fall of 2014.
Sampling description: Crab investigation
A complete search of 50 meters along the stream was conducted at each site. Then, six traps baited with dry pet food (Fig. 2) were set overnight (Chen et al. 2003) to collect the Geothelphusa crabs. After identifying species and measuring the traits of carapace breadth, carapace length, wet weight and sex, the captured crabs were released to their native habitats except for those with doubt in species identification needed for confirmation in the laboratory.

Environmental parameters investigation
The water temperature, pH value, dissolved oxygen and conductivity of the sampling sites were measured by a water quality meter (Horiba U-53) in situ. The water samples used to measure the values of BOD5, NH3-N, SS, FC and TP were preserved below 4 degree Celsius and analyzed in the laboratory within seven days from collection. In addition, the score table of cQHEI was also recorded in situ.
The data of BOD5, NH3-N, SS, FC and TP were used to calculate two water quality indicators: River Pollution Index (Liou et al. 2004) and Water Quality Index 7 (Wen 2006). The data of the score table of cQHEI were used to calculate the other environmental indicator: the citizen Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (Hoosier Riverwatch 2019).

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive A dataset of distribution of the Geothelphusa (Decapoda: Potamidae) with their environmental parameters and stream indicators in eastern and southern Taiwan
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.taibif.tw/archive.do?r=crab-indicator
Publication date of data: 2023-02-06
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2022-12-29
Hierarchy level: Dataset