First southern Mexican Caribbean Sea record of the Indo- Pacific crab <i>Plagusia immaculata</i> Lamarck, 1818 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Plagusiidae)

Abstract Among crustaceans, decapods have been recorded as the taxon with the highest number of recognized alien species, all of which can alter the habitat and ecosystem function, impacting the abundance, distribution, and behavior of native species. Two specimens of Plagusia were collected from exposed rocks in El Uvero, Quintana Roo state, on the southern Mexican Caribbean Sea. Morphological and molecular (COI gene) analyses confirmed the species as Plagusia immaculata Lamarck, 1818, a species found in the Indo-West and Tropical Eastern Pacific regions. This record constitutes the first non-native decapod for this area.