Pseudopaguristes kuekenthali (De Man, 1902 ) De Man, 1902

Rahayu, Dwi Listyo, 2005, Additions to the Indonesian fauna of the hermit crab genus Pseudopaguristes McLaughlin and a further division of the genus Paguristes Dana (Crustacea: Decapoda: Paguroidea: Diogenidae), Zootaxa 831, pp. 1-42 : 26-27

Pseudopaguristes kuekenthali (De Man, 1902) n. comb.

Paguristes kükenthali De Man, 1902: 733 , pl. 24, figs. 43, 43a–f. Paguristes kuekenthali . — Haig & Ball, 1988: 170, fig. 4.

Material examined. 2 males 4.5 and 3.5 mm, Teluk Kotania, Seram Island, Maluku, 6–10 m, 23 Jul 1997 ( MZB); 1 male 3.5 mm, 1 female 3.4 mm, Morela, Ambon Island, Maluku, 6–10 m, 16 Jul 1997 (RCO).

Diagnosis. Quadriserial phyllobranchiae. Shield longer than broad; rostrum triangular, longer than lateral projections, reaching almost to distal tips of ocular acicles. Ocular peduncles swollen proximally; slightly shorter than shield; longer than antennal and antennular peduncles; corneas small; ocular acicles with 2–4 terminal spines. Antennal flagella slightly longer than shield, composed of about 20 articles with short, sparse setae. Male chelipeds unequal, right larger than left; cutting edges of dactyl and fixed finger with narrow hiatus, each with row of small teeth. Female chelipeds equal. Ambulatory legs exceeding chelipeds by half length of dactyls; sparse setae on dorsal and ventral margins; dactyls same length as propodi. Fourth pereopod with preungual process. First and second male pleopod and male gonopores paired. Female with gonopore only on coxa of left pereopod; brood pouch absent. Telson asymmetrical, left slightly larger than right, with minute spines on terminal margins.

Color in life. “Shield uniform white or pale orange. Ocular peduncles and corneas solid bright orange. Antennules uniform orange, flagellum transparent. Antennal flagella alternately transparent and red or purple. Chelipeds bright orange; merus with red or dark purple spot on lateral and ventral faces, 2 spots on mesial face; carpus and chela each with similar marking on dorsal, lateral and mesial faces. Pereopods 2 and 3 bright orange, with lateral red patch on merus and carpus” ( Haig & Ball 1988).

Type locality. Ternate, Maluku, Indonesia.

Habitat. Coral reef.

Distribution. At present, P. kuekenthali is known only from Vanuatu, and the Maluku waters of Indonesia.

Remarks. Pseudopaguristes kuekenthali was redescribed and figured by Haig & Ball (1988) as Paguristes kuekenthali from the specimens collected by the Alpha Helix Expedition. Neither De Man (1902) nor Haig & Ball (1988) discussed the dissimilarities of male chelipeds. The Alpha Helix specimens could not be found in the National Institute of Oceanology (now Research Centre for Oceanography) Jakarta, Indonesia, but the material used in this study are from the same locality, i.e. Ceram Island. The specimens agree well with the redescription of the species by Haig & Ball (1988). Therefore the description of P. kuekenthali can be supplemented by adding that the male has unequal chelipeds, the right much larger than left, whereas the female has equal chelipeds.

Pseudopaguristes kuekenthali , P. janetkae and P. bollandi share several characters such as the larger right cheliped in males, ocular acicles that terminate in several spines, and ocular peduncles that are longer than the antennal and antennular peduncles. These three species differ, however, in coloration, P. kuekenthali is generally bright orange, P. janetkae has red chelipeds and red and yellow or cream pereopods, and P. bollandi is uniformly red.