Pagurus nigrofascia, a new species of hermit crab (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae) from Japan

Abstract

A new intertidal species of hermit crab, Pagurus nigrofascia, is described and illustrated on the basis of materials from three separate localities in Japan, Hakodate Bay (southern Hokkaido), Amakusa Matsushima (Kyushu), and Wakayama at the mouth of Osaka Bay (Kinki district of Honshu). The new species is compared with P. samuelis (Stimpson, 1857), P. hirsutiusculus (Dana, 1851) and P. venturensis Coffin, 1957, from the west coast of North America, and P. filholi De Man, 1887, from Asian waters. It is suggested that Stimpson's (1858) Eupagurus hirsutiusculus from Hakodate Bay might acutually be this new species. The new species is one of the most common intertidal hermit crabs in Hakodate Bay.