A new species of the bathyal yeti crab genus Kiwa Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2005 (Decapoda: Anomura: Kiwaidae) from a hydrothermal vent field in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, with a key to the genus

Abstract

A new species of yeti crab is described from a hydrothermal vent field near the equatorial Eastern Pacific Rise (EPR)-Galapagos Microplate at a depth of 1,628 m. Kiwa gemma n. sp. is the fifth species of the family Kiwaidae Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2005 to be described thus far. The new species can be distinguished from other congeners by having the lateral margin of chelipeds without spines, slender and mostly straight chelar fingers, and the spinose mesial margin of the endopod of the uropod. Also notable are the unique short, stiff, scaly-tipped setae on the antennal peduncles and chelipeds, which have not been reported to occur in congeners. A key to the species of the genus Kiwa Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2005 is provided.