The Problematic Paralbunea Hu and Tao, 1996: Homonymy, Generic Nom. Nov., and Correct Taxonomic Placement

The fossil genus Paralbunea Hu and Tao, described as an anomuran albuneid, is a junior homonym of Paralbunea Serène and a possible synonym of either the brachyuran raninid Ranilia H. Milne Edwards, 1837, or Cosmonotus Adams and White, 1848. The type series of P. taipeiensis Hu and Tao is composed of at least two species belonging to two raninid genera and appears (in part) assignable to the genus Ranilia and (in part) to Cosmonotus grayi Adams and White, 1848. However, due to both limited availability and poor quality of the holotype of Paralbunea taipeiensis , and destruction of the paratypes, this taxon cannot be unequivocally synonymized with any particular raninid taxon and a new name is proposed to replace Hu and Tao's preoccupied generic name. Caution is urged when describing purported albuneid fossils, due to strong convergence with raninid crabs, which are far more common in the fossil record.     

Population structure and morphology of South African deep-water parapagurid hermit crabs

The parapagurid hermit crabs Sympagurus dimorphus (Studer, 1883) and Parapagurus bouvieri (Stebbing, 1910) form dominant components of South African deeper-water benthic invertebrate communities and, as adults, forego the use of “traditional” gastropod shells in favour of symbiotically associated Epizoanthus carcinoecia. A total of 1,122 adult S. dimorphus and 549 adult P. bouvieri derived from demersal research trawl surveys were examined to investigate parameters of population structure, carcinoecia association and morphology. S. dimorphus had a female-biased sex ratio of 1:1.5, and P. bouvieri an equal sex ratio of 1:1. The proportion of males of both species increased with cephalothoracic shield length (CL). The lengths of the major right chelipeds of both S. dimorphus males and females, and P. bouvieri males were positively allometric, and negatively allometric in P. bouvieri females. All P. bouvieri inhabited carcinoecia, while 3.39% (n = 38) of S. dimorphus specimens occupied gastropod shells. There was a positive relationship between S. dimorphus CL and rate of gastropod shell occupation (r² = 0.96). In S. dimorphus, number of zoanthid polyps forming the carcinoecia pseudoshell increased with both total shell volume (R² = 0.73) and colony height (R² = 0.61), but no such relationships were found for P. bouvieri. Euspira napus was the most common original shell around which carcinoecia developed in both S. dimorphus (45.45%) and P. bouvieri (39.00%). We speculate that these hermit species exist along an evolutionary continuum of carcinoecia use. Sympagurus dimorphus retains the ability to occupy both gastropod shells and pseudoshells and, like most other hermit crabs, continue to use shells/carcinoecia as shelters to protect the entire body. In contrast, adult P. bouvieri appear to be totally reliant on carcinoecia, which they use more as a brood pouch covering only the abdomen, rather than as a shelter into which they can fully retract to escape predation.     

The complete mitochondrial genomes of two vent squat lobsters,Munidopsis lauensis and M. verrilli: Novel gene arrangements and phylogenetic implications

Hydrothermal vents are considered as one of the most extremely harsh environments on the Earth. In this study, the complete mitogenomes of hydrothermal vent squat lobsters, Munidopsis lauensis and M. verrilli, were determined through Illumina sequencing and compared with other available mitogenomes of anomurans. The mitogenomes of M. lauensis (17,483 bp) and M. verrilli (17,636 bp) are the largest among all Anomura mitogenomes, while the A+T contents of M. lauensis (62.40%) and M. verrilli (63.99%) are the lowest. The mitogenomes of M. lauensis and M. verrilli display novel gene arrangements, which might be the result of three tandem duplication–random loss (tdrl) events from the ancestral pancrustacean pattern. The mitochondrial gene orders of M. lauensis and M. verrilli shared the most similarities with S. crosnieri. The phylogenetic analyses based on both gene order data and nucleotide sequences (PCGs and rRNAs) revealed that the two species were closely related to Shinkaia crosnieri. Positive selection analysis revealed that eighteen residues in seven genes (atp8, Cytb, nad3, nad4, nad4l, nad5, and nad6) of the hydrothermal vent anomurans were positively selected sites.     

Geographical variation in fecundity and reproductive investment of Loxopagurus loxochelis (Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae) along the south-eastern coast of Brazil

We aimed to study the fecundity and reproductive investment of Loxopagurus loxochelis under different environmental conditions. In total, 67 ovigerous females were analyzed, 20 from Macaé, 26 from Ubatuba and 21 from Cananéia. The cephalothoracic shield length, fecundity and reproductive investment (Ubatuba 10.2%, Macaé 8.9% and Cananéia 7.5%) were different among the regions (ANCOVA, p < 0.05), caused by different abiotic resources and environmental characteristics found in each sampling region. Cananéia had the smallest individuals and low availability of adequate shells to hermit crabs, a condition that may have affected the growth and reproduction of the animals. Macaé has a continuous transport of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to the surface promoted by the Cabo Frio Upwelling zone, which may be a favourable condition for plankton production and, consequently, the extended ‘match/mismatch’ adjustment of spawning females of L. loxochelis. We propose that the highest reproductive investment on the Ubatuba coast is a consequence of regional environmental scenarios of waters colder than the Cananéia region, i.e. females concentrate more energy to reproduce seasonally. Thus, we proved that patterns of L. loxochelis’ reproduction can change on a regional scale according to the local condition of shell supply and water temperature.     

Phylogenetic systematics of the reptantian Decapoda (Crustacea, Malacostraca)

Although the biology of the reptantian Decapoda has been much studied, the last comprehensive review of reptantian systematics was published more than 80 years ago. We have used cladistic methods to reconstruct the phylogenetic system of the reptantian Decapoda. We can show that the Reptantia represent a monophyletic taxon. The classical groups, the 'Palinura', 'Astacura' and 'Anomura' are paraphyletic assemblages. The Polychelida is the sister-group of all other reptantians. The Astacida is not closely related to the Homarida, but is part of a large monophyletic taxon which also includes the Thalassinida, Anomala and Brachyura. The Anomala and Brachyura are sister-groups and the Thalassinida is the sister-group of both of them. Based on our reconstruction of the sister-group relationships within the Reptantia, we discuss alternative hypotheses of reptantian interrelationships, the systematic position of the Reptantia within the decapods, and draw some conclusions concerning the habits and appearance of the reptantian stem species.     

Global diversity of crabs (Aeglidae: Anomura: Decapoda) in freshwater

The freshwater anomuran crabs of the family Aeglidae are all restricted to southern South America occurring in Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. The family consists of a single genus, Aegla, containing 63 currently described species. There are another 5–10 known yet undescribed species to complement this diversity. The aeglids occur in freshwater lakes, streams, rivers, and in caves with freshwater. The origin of the family appears to be from marine ancestors from the Pacific invading streams in Chile about 75 mya radiating both in Chile and again on the eastern side of the Andes, particularly in Brazil. Of the 63 species, 23 or 36.5% are considered under threat and are in need of conservation action. Guest editors: E. V. Balian, C. Lévêque, H. Segers & K. Martens Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment     

瓷蟹科—新种(甲壳亚门:歪尾类)

本文报道瓷蟹科一新种——变化拟瓷蟹Enosteoides variabilis sp.nov.,特点是:额宽,近于平直或稍呈孤形,额缘中央稍凹,头胸甲侧缘中鳃区上具2壮齿,螯足两性异形。模式标本采自广西涠洲岛,保存在北京自然博物馆。     

Phylogeny of the Anomala (Crustacea, Decapoda, Reptantia) based on the ossicles of the foregut

We present a cladistic analysis of the Anomala based on 66 ingroup species and 5 outgroup representatives. Based on a comparative analysis of the morphology of the foregut we scored 124 characters related to size, shape, and fusion of foregut ossicles and other foregut structures. Our parsimony analysis resulted in 30 equally parsimonious trees which differ mainly at the lower hierarchical level. Our study reveals two large clades within Anomala. One large clade consists of Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea. The internal relationships show a monophyletic Porcellanidae nested within a group comprising paraphyletic Galatheidae, and Munididae as well as Munidopsidae. The other large clade contains Aegla as sister group to a monophyletic group consisting of the Hippoidea and a clade formed by Lomis and the Paguroidea. Coenobitidae are nested within paraphyletic Diogenidae and Lithodidae are nested within paraphyletic Paguridae. The results are discussed in the context of other morphological and molecular analyses. Furthermore, some aspects of carcinization are touched upon; in particular, an anomalan stem species with a, at least to some extent, ventrally folded pleon is suggested.