A new genus and species of hermit crab (Crustacea: Anomura: Paguroidea) from northwestern Australia

Abstract

A new genus and new of the hermit crab family Paguridae are described and illustrated from specimens collected off northwestern Australia. The genus, CycetopaglllllS, gen. nov., is distinguished by a combination of characters shared individually with several genera that are collectively recognized by the development in males of an elongate right and a short left sexual tube, and the presence in females of paired and modified first pleopods. However, the armature of the telson of the type species, Cycetopagllllls morgalli sp. nov., of the new genus that consists of corneous spines is reminiscent of the family Parapaguridae. Some of the specimens are poorly calcified, and the majority of appendages are disarticulated. The specimen selected as the holotype does have three ambulatory legs still attached to the cephalothorax, and the abdomen is only slightly damaged. It has been possible to determine, with reasonable confidence, which of the detached chelipeds and remaining pereopod belong to the holotype. Despite the relatively poor condition of the remaining specimens, all are considered paratypes, as the distinctive characters of these bodies and appendages confirm their conspecificity. The genus adds yet another piece to the evolutionary puzzle of pagurid genera that have developed male sexual tubes. All specimens have been returned to the Western Australian Museum (WAM).