Keywords
Ostraconotus
redescription
taxonomy
molecular evidence
DNA
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Abstract
The taxonomic history of the pagurid hermit crab Ostraconotus spatulipes A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, is reviewed, and the morphology of the species is documented in detail, within the context of modern systematic knowledge of the Paguroidea. Molecular knowledge remains limited, as only the H3 gene was successfully amplified. The available H3 sequence, however, is consistent with placement of O. spatulipes within Paguridae, but does not resolve its internal phylogenetic position. Full anatomical details, illustrations, and coloration are provided, all of which are necessary for phylogenetic studies, given the importance attributed to this intriguing species in the evolution of the Paguroidea in general, and the family Paguridae in particular. This morphologically exceptional, carcinized, minute hermit crab (< 5.0 mm in carapace length) was known exclusively from specimens collected between 1872 and 1879 in the Gulf of Mexico and off Barbados. Surprisingly, despite numerous faunal surveys and expeditions conducted since then in the region, no more specimens of O. spatulipes had been obtained until one of us (DLF) captured a single female off the west coast of Florida in 2014. More fresh specimens are required to expand molecular genetic analyses that can accurately place this unique species within the Anomuran Tree of Life.
References
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