Abstract
The pinnotherid crab Clypeasterophilus stebbingi (Rathbun, 1918), previously known from Florida, USA, Colombia and Brazil, is reported for the first time from Central America, on the east coast of Nicaragua. A single female specimen was collected on the sand dollar Clypeaster subdepressus (Gray, 1825), at 4 m depth, among turtle grass on sandy bottom. The specimen fits well with the description provided by M.J. Rathbun and observations made on photographs of the male holotype. Comparison of the material described from Florida (including the type material), Colombia and Brazil to the Nicaragua specimen, however, indicates that C. stebbingi shows some variation in the shape of the third maxilliped.
Highlights
Crabs of the family Pinnotheridae are small species often associated with other marine organisms such as ascidians, mollusks, echinoderms and sometimes found in polychaetes, decapod crustaceans and fishes burrows (Warner, 1977; Brusca, 1980)
As part of a general revision of the affinities within the family Pinnotheridae, species of the genus Dissodactylus were partly reassigned to Clypeasterophilus Campos, 1990 (Campos, 1990)
Hendrickx and Solis: Clypeasterophilus stebbingi from Nicaragua species described by Aikawa (1933), and four species of Clypeasterophilus that had previously been included in the genus Dissodactylus
Summary
Crabs of the family Pinnotheridae are small species often associated with other marine organisms such as ascidians, mollusks, echinoderms and sometimes found in polychaetes, decapod crustaceans and fishes burrows (Warner, 1977; Brusca, 1980). The genus Dissodactylus Smith, 1870, was described to include species of Pinnotheridae associated with Echinoidea.
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