A new hermit crab of the Paguristes tortugae complex (Crustacea: Anomura: Diogenidae), with a key to the western Atlantic species

ABSTRACT

A new hermit crab species, Paguristes scarabinoi sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on specimens collected in Uruguay. The new species is assigned to the Paguristes tortugae species complex based on the characteristic dense fringe of long plumose setae present on ambulatory legs and dorsolateral margins of chelae. The new species can be differentiated from all other species currently placed in the P. tortugae complex by the combination of the following features: antennal flagellum with short and long setae on each article; antennular peduncles short to moderately long, not exceeding one-third of ocular peduncles including the corneas; dactyl of ambulatory legs long, slender, slightly convex and without a longitudinal sulcus flanked by corneous spines or spinules on the mesial face; and female brood pouch elongate, slender, blade-shaped. A key to the western Atlantic species of the P. tortugae complex is provided.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4B3298F3-D5DF-40E5-A2AB-9B457AB8BE0E

RESPONSIBLE EDITOR:

• Roy Kropp

KEYWORDS:

• New species
• Paguroidea
• South America
• south-western Atlantic
• Uruguay

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Fabrizio Scarabino (CURE-Centro Universitario Regional Este) and Dr Marcos Tavares (MZUSP) for providing working space and/or access to their collections. We express our thanks to the crew of the R/V ‘Aldebaran’ 2005–04 cruise, as well as to the Direccíon Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos (DINARA, Uruguay). We also thank the Universidade do Sagrado Coração (USC) for supporting studies on the systematics of decapod crustaceans, and Dr Arthur Anker for his comments on the manuscript and great help with the English language The authors are grateful for the cooperation, assistance, and insightful comments provided by Dr Rafael Lemaitre (USNM), which considerably improved this manuscript and our knowledge about the group. Thanks also to Joana d’Arc (MZUSP) and Maria José Souza Coelho (MZUSP) for their kind assistance throughout the execution of this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Daniel José Marcondes Lima http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3039-9134

William Santana http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3086-4419

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) PhD fellowship [162247/2013-3] to DL, and by a grant from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) to WS [grant no. 2013/1201-0].