Pachycheles trichotus Haig, 1960

Ferreira, Luciane Augusto De Azevedo & Anker, Arthur, 2021, An annotated and illustrated checklist of the porcelain crabs of Panama (Decapoda: Anomura), Zootaxa 5045 (1), pp. 1-154 : 58

Pachycheles trichotus Haig, 1960

Pachycheles trichotus Haig 1960: 157 , pl. 12, pl. 32, fig. 3; Haig 1968: 57, 69; Gore 1982: 10.

Material examined. Panama [Pacific]: 2 males, cl 4.7, cw 5.0 and cl 4.5, cw 4.8, 2 ov. females, cl 5.2, cw 5.6 and cl 3.9, cw 4.3 ( MZUSP 40072 ), Río Mar , rocky intertidal, low tide, under rocks and in rock crevices, leg. A. Anker, J.F. Lazarus-Agudelo & T. Kaji, 20.04.2015 .

Previous records from Panama. Haig (1960); Gore (1982).

Distribution. East Pacific: El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama ( Isla Verde inside Golfo de Montijo, Río Mar, Isla Venao, vicinity of Ciudad de Panamá) ( Haig 1960; Gore 1982; present study).

Ecology. Intertidal; under rocks or in rock crevices ( Haig 1960; Gore 1982; present study).

Remarks. According to Gore (1982), P. trichotus is an extremely rare species, previously known from only four specimens, in addition to two specimens examined by this author. Haig (1960) separated P. trichotus from the very similar P. panamensis by the shape of the P1 fingers; the presence of plumose setae on the carapace front and P1–P4; and the absence of pleopods in males. However, Gore (1982) separated P. trichotus from both P. panamensis and P. spinidactylus by the epimeral plate formula, which the author found to be “both distinctive and consistent, comprising a single large plate in P. trichotus , one large and one small plate in P. spinidactylus , and one large and several smaller fragments in P. panamensis ”. Unfortunately, the two specimens of P. trichotus from Río Mar were not photographed alive, likely due to the species’ resemblance with P. panamensis , which was also found at this locality (see above).