Abstract
The porcellanid crab Petrolisthes hastatus Stimpson, 1858, has been traditionally viewed as a highly variable species with a wide distribution in the West Pacific. For more than a century there has been taxonomic confusion of this species with morphologically similar taxa, some of which were synonymized with Stimpson’s taxon. We redefine Petrolisthes hastatus, resurrect Petrolisthes inermis as a valid species, discuss the status of Petrolisthes tenkatei De Man, 1893, and describe a new species as Petrolisthes elegantissimus from Indonesia.
Highlights
Porcellanidae is a morphologically and ecologically diverse family of decapod Crustacea containing approximately 280 species in 23 genera with littoral or sublittoral distributions throughout the tropical and temperate regions of all oceans (e.g. Haig 1956, 1960; Werding 1977; Werding et al 2003; Osawa and Chan 2010; Osawa and McLaughlin 2010)
Most material examined is deposited in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NBC) in Leiden, the Netherlands, and the Muséum National dHistoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris, France
This material was compared to old samples from the Naturhistorisches Museum (NHM) in Vienna, Austria, which corresponds to the original material collected by the Novara Expedition, and labelled as syntypes of Porcellana inermis Heller, 1862 by later curators
Summary
Porcellanidae is a morphologically and ecologically diverse family of decapod Crustacea containing approximately 280 species in 23 genera with littoral or sublittoral distributions throughout the tropical and temperate regions of all oceans (e.g. Haig 1956, 1960; Werding 1977; Werding et al 2003; Osawa and Chan 2010; Osawa and McLaughlin 2010). Haig 1956, 1960; Werding 1977; Werding et al 2003; Osawa and Chan 2010; Osawa and McLaughlin 2010). This family comprises one of the most abundant groups of crustaceans in rocky and coral habitats. For more than a century, Petrolisthes hastatus Stimpson, 1858 has been object of taxonomic confusion. This species has been known to have large intraspecific variation. The presence of pubescence in the gape of the cheliped fingers was not mentioned by Stimpson (1858, 1907), and the walking legs were characterized as “hairy, sparsely spinulose above”
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