Pagurus species

Osawa, Masayuki, 2012, A new species of the genus Pagurus Fabricius, 1775 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae) from the Ryukyu Islands, southwestern Japan *, Zootaxa 3367 (1), pp. 155-164 : 162-163

Notes on Pagurus species in the Ryukyu Islands

Nine nominal Pagurus species including the present new species are currently known from the Ryukyu Islands ranging from the Osumi Group to the Yaeyama Group: P. angustus ( Stimpson, 1858) ; P. decimbranchiae Komai & Osawa, 2001 ; P. filholi (De Man, 1887) ; P. hirtimanus ; P. japonicus ; P. lophochela Komai, 1999 ; P. minutus Hess, 1865 ; P. nigrivittatus Komai, 2003 ; and P. tabataorum n. sp. ( Komai & Mishima 2003; Komai & Osawa 2001; McLaughlin et al. 2007; Minei 1973; Takeda 1976; present study; unpublished data). All the species except for P. lophochela and P. tabataorum n. sp. are recorded from the intertidal area to shallow subtidal depths. The known depth records of P. lophochela and P. tabataorum n. sp. are down to 171–181 m and 68 m, respectively ( Komai & Takeda 2006; present study). Komai (2003b) redescribed Pagurus pilosipes ( Stimpson, 1858) on the basis of the topotypic material from Okinawa Island. Subsequently, McLaughlin et al. (2010) noted that the species will be transferred to the genus Boninpagurus Asakura & Tachikawa, 2004 , as the senior synonym of B. acanthocheles Asakura & Tachikawa, 2004 , and Komai et al. (2011) officially made this taxonomic action.

The distributions of the species from the intertidal area to shallow subtidal depths are variable. The occurrences of P. decimbranchiae , P. filholi , and P. japonicus in the Osumi Group of the northern Ryukyus show the southern limit of their distribution in Japan, although P. japonicus has been also recorded from northern China, Korea, and northeastern Taiwan ( Komai & Osawa 2001; McLaughlin et al. 2007; Takeda 1976; unpublished data). Pagurus nigrivittatus was known from Honshu to Kyushu in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan ( Komai 2003b; McLaughlin et al. 2007), and is recently found in Okinawa Island (unpublished data). Pagurus angustus is known only from the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan ( McLaughlin et al. 2007). Pagurus minutus is restricted to East Asian waters, while P. hirtimanus is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific ( Haig & Ball 1988; McLaughlin et al. 2007).