Regional range extension of two xanthid crab species (Decapoda, Brachyura) to the mid-Sanriku Coast, the coldest waters off Honshu, Japan

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Abstract This paper reports the first occurrences of two brachyuran crab species of the family Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838, viz., Actaea semblatae Guinot, 1976 and Gaillardiellus orientalis (Odhner, 1925), from the mid-Sanriku Coast, along the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan. While these records do not represent the northern limit of distribution of these species, they do show a range extension into the coldest waters of Honshu, the main island of Japan, probably due to global warming and changes in flow patterns of the local sea currents.