New Porcelain Crab Species from Colombia Named

This is a large male Pachycheles tuerkayi, new species from Santa Marta, Colombia (a) and large male P. serratus (Benedict, 1901) from the Gulf of Morrosquillo, Colombia (b). Scale = 4.5 mm. Source: Credit: Alexandra Hiller

Despite their names, hermit crabs, king crabs and horseshoe crabs are not true crabs. Neither are porcelain crabs, decapod crab-like crustaceans that live in shallow water throughout the world's oceans. Researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany (JLU), recently identified a new species of porcelain crab: Pachycheles tuerkayi.

"For quite some time, scientists confused our new species with another, very similar species called P. serratus that often shares the same habitat," said Alexandra Hiller, research collaborator at STRI and JLU. "They look nearly the same and are both found in the southern Caribbean Sea. However, our new species has hairy claws and is only found along the coasts of Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, whereas P. serratus is found from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to Panama and south to Venezuela."

The new species, P. tuerkayi, is named for the late Michael Türkay, head of the Crustacea Section at the =read more