New records and taxonomic data for 14 species of sand crabs (Crustacea: Anomura: Albuneidae) from localities worldwide

Abstract

Specimens representing 12 species of albuneid sand crabs (Albuneidae) are identified and discussed, and new taxonomic information is provided for an additional two species. These mostly new records come from diverse localities including Pacific Mexico (Lepidopa californica and L. deamae), Atlantic Panama (Albunea paretii and A. catherinae), Madagascar (Albunea groeningi and A. symmysta, although the locality data on these species needs verification), India (A. symmysta), Réunion Island (A. holthuisi), the Philippines (A. microps), Guam (A. speciosa and Paralbunea dayriti), Moorea (A. elioti) and Hawaii (Albunea bulla). The sole specimen of Albunea bulla from Hawaii represents only the third species of albuneid recorded from the island chain. An overlooked misidentification of specimens of “Albunea thurstoni” from Hawaii (= Albunea danai) is also included. The discovery of a population of A. catherinae in Atlantic Panama is surprising and shows a highly disjunct distribution for the species, which could be the result of ballast water discharge near the Panama Canal Zone. Several specimens studied exhibit morphological characters that differ from typical members of their species and this illustrates the challenges of defining species boundaries from relatively small sample sizes. Discovery of a long overlooked species description reveals that Albunea scutelloides Garstang, 1897 is the senior synonym of Albunea mariellae Serène, 1973 and is the valid name for the type species of the genus Squillalbunea Boyko, 2002.