Descriptions of three new Pseudolitochira Ward, 1942 species (Crustacea: Brachyura: Pilumnidae) from the West Pacific

ABSTRACT

Pseudolitochira Ward, 1942 (Brachyura: Pilumnidae) is superficially similar to Heteropilumnus De Man, 1895, but it can be distinguished from the latter by possessing a more subovate carapace, the dorsal surface of the carapace almost devoid of regions, a proportionately wider front with short anterolateral margins, and, most significantly, a different posterior margin of the epistome. In Heteropilumnus species, and most Pilumnus species, each lateral margin of the posterior margin of the epistome is separated into two parts, demarcated by a clear median fissure. In Pseudolitochira, the lateral margin is entire and evenly concave, without any trace of a cleft or fissure. For the present study, Japanese specimens reported as ‘P. integra’ by Maenosono (2019) were examined and it was found that they should be referred to a new species. Furthermore, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu specimens belong to two other new species. The present paper provides a diagnosis for the three new species and compares them with P. integra (Miers, 1884) s. str.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:92667FD7-735A-4430-86EC-48821DB90FB7

KEYWORDS:

• Pilumnidae
• taxonomy
• Pseudolitochira
• Heteropilumnus
• P. integra (Miers
• 1884)
• P. crinita sp. nov.
• P. maenosonoi sp. nov.
• P. pacifica sp. nov.

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to Tadafumi Maenosono for entrusting his collections to us for study; and to Tohru Naruse (Ryukyus University Museum, Fujukan) for arranging the loan. The specimen from the Papua New Guinea expedition was obtained during the ‘Our Planet Reviewed’ Papua Niugini expedition organised by the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Pro Natura International (PNI), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) (Principal Investigators: Philippe Bouchet, Claude Payri and Sarah Samadi), and we thank Arthur Anker for collecting it. The organisers for this expedition acknowledge funding from the Total Foundation, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Fondation EDF, Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Entrepose Contracting, and Divine Word University; and the work occurred under a permit from the Papua New Guinea Department of Environment and Conservation. The Vanuatu specimen was collected during the SANTO 2006 expedition organised by MNHN, PNI, and IRD. The expedition was supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Census of Marine Life, Total and Sloan foundations, and the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, operating under a permit to P. Bouchet from the Environment Unit of the Government of Vanuatu.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.