A New Genus and New Species of Paguridae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from the Bohol Sea, the Philippines

Abstract

A new genus and new species of the hermit crab family Paguridae is described and illustrated on the basis of three specimens collected from off Balicasag Island, Bohol Sea, the Philippines. The new genus, Pliopagurus, is referred to the “Pylopagurus-Tomopagurus” group on account of its having 11 pairs of biserial gills and paired first pleopods in females, and appears closest to Lophopagurus McLaughlin, 1981. The possession of short sexual tubes on both coxae of the fiſth pereopods in the male and the lack of a median crest or dorsolateral keel of the leſt chela distinguish Pliopagurus from Lophopagurus. An emended key to the genera of the “Pylopagurus-Tomopagurus” group is presented.