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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">102</journal-id>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="index">urn:lsid:arphahub.com:pub:73abe0ce-d97c-5d7c-bee5-b8e6e6fe6a17</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title xml:lang="en">ARPHA Preprints</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title xml:lang="en">preprints</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Pensoft Publishers</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3897/arphapreprints.e86105</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">86105</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Research Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="biological_taxon">
          <subject>Potamoidea</subject>
          <subject>Potamonautidae</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="scientific_subject">
          <subject>Biodiversity &amp;amp; Conservation</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="geographical_area">
          <subject>Africa</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Intraspecific variations and phylogenetic relationships of threatened endemic Cameroonian freshwater crab species assigned to <italic>Louisea </italic>Cumberlidge, 1994 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Potamonautidae), with recommendations for conservation status</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group content-type="authors">
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Mvogo Ndongo</surname>
            <given-names>Pierre A.</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:type="simple">mpierrearmand@yahoo.fr</email>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>von Rintelen</surname>
            <given-names>Thomas</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6253-3078</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Clark</surname>
            <given-names>Paul</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Shahdadi</surname>
            <given-names>Adnan</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5131-7700</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Tchietchui</surname>
            <given-names>Carine Rosine</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A4">4</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Albrecht</surname>
            <given-names>Christian</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A5">5</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Cumberlidge</surname>
            <given-names>Neil</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A6">6</xref>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="A1">
        <label>1</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany</addr-line>
        <institution>Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Berlin</addr-line>
        <country>Germany</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A2">
        <label>2</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">NHM, London, United Kingdom</addr-line>
        <institution>NHM</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">London</addr-line>
        <country>United Kingdom</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A3">
        <label>3</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran, Bandar Abbas, Iran</addr-line>
        <institution>Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Bandar Abbas</addr-line>
        <country>Iran</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A4">
        <label>4</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Zoology Unit, Laboratory of Biology and Physiology of Animal Organisms, Faculty of Science, University of Doual, Douala, Cameroon</addr-line>
        <institution>Zoology Unit, Laboratory of Biology and Physiology of Animal Organisms, Faculty of Science, University of Doual</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Douala</addr-line>
        <country>Cameroon</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A5">
        <label>5</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">University Giessen, Giessen, Germany</addr-line>
        <institution>University Giessen</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Giessen</addr-line>
        <country>Germany</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A6">
        <label>6</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Northern Michigan University, Michigan, United States of America</addr-line>
        <institution>Northern Michigan University</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Michigan</addr-line>
        <country>United States of America</country>
      </aff>
      <author-notes>
        <fn fn-type="corresp">
          <p>Corresponding author: Pierre A. Mvogo Ndongo (<email xlink:type="simple">mpierrearmand@yahoo.fr</email>).</p>
        </fn>
        <fn fn-type="edited-by">
          <p>Academic editor: </p>
        </fn>
      </author-notes>
      <pub-date pub-type="collection">
        <year>2022</year>
      </pub-date>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>09</day>
        <month>05</month>
        <year>2022</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>3</volume>
      <uri content-type="arpha" xlink:href="http://openbiodiv.net/2C8D3B93-3F28-5573-9AB8-24407BDA0A02">2C8D3B93-3F28-5573-9AB8-24407BDA0A02</uri>
      <history>
        <date date-type="received">
          <day>03</day>
          <month>05</month>
          <year>2022</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>03</day>
          <month>05</month>
          <year>2022</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Pierre A. Mvogo Ndongo, Thomas von Rintelen, Paul Clark, Adnan Shahdadi, Carine Rosine Tchietchui, Christian Albrecht, Neil Cumberlidge</copyright-statement>
        <license license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">
          <license-p>This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <label>Abstract</label>
        <p>The Cameroonian freshwater crab genus <italic>Louisea </italic>Cumberlidge, 1994 currently includes four threatened species: <italic>L. edeaensis </italic>(Bott, 1969) from Lake Ossa Island, <italic>L. balssi </italic>(Bott, 1959) from Mt. Manengouba, <italic>L. yabassi </italic>Mvogo Ndongo, von Rintelen &amp; Cumberlidge, 2019 from the Ebo Forest zone, and <italic>L. nkongsamba</italic> Mvogo Ndongo, von Rintelen &amp; Cumberlidge, 2019 from the Nlonako Ecological Reserve. We report here on collections of specimens of <italic>L. yabassi</italic> (from two new localities) and <italic>L. nkongsamba</italic> (from six new localities). The phylogenetic relationships of the four species of <italic>Louisea</italic> are currently unresolved. Here, we describe morphological variation within populations of both <italic>L. nkongsamba </italic>and <italic>L. yabassi</italic> that are supported by differences in characters of <span class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;text-align:justify;text-indent:35.4pt;">t</span>he carapace, mandible, thoracic sternum, and male second gonopods. In addition, three genetic lineages were found within <italic>L. nkongsamba </italic>that are supported by uncorrected<italic> p</italic>-distance and the haplotype network<italic>. </italic>No correlation, however, was found between the morphotypes within the species and the genetic lineages grouping populations of both of these species. Phylogenetic analyses based on three mtDNA loci (COI, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) revealed divergence times of 5.6 million years ago (Ma) for when <italic>L. edeaensis</italic> diverged from <italic>L. balssi, </italic>4.1 MA for when <italic>L. yabassi</italic> diverged from <italic>L. nkongsamba</italic> and <italic>L. edeaensis,</italic> and 2.48 MA for when <italic>L. yabassi</italic> diverged from <italic>L. nkongsamba</italic>. Immediate threats to these rare and threatened species of freshwater crabs and to the rainforest ecosystem upon which they depend include deforestation, habitat fragmentation, agricultural encroachment, pollution and firewood gathering. Our results indicate that IUCN Red List reassessments of extinction risk for these four species would likely result in changes of category for <italic>L. balssi</italic> and <italic>L. edeaensis </italic>(both might be upgraded from EN to critically endangered (CR)), and first-time assessments for <italic>L. yabassi</italic> and <italic>L. nkongsamba</italic> would likely place them both in the endangered (EN) category. Recognition of species boundaries and of subpopulations of species will prove useful when making informed conservation decisions as part of the development of species action plans.</p>
      </abstract>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
