Pylopaguropsis bellula Osawa & Okuno, 2007

Komai, Tomoyuki, Rahayu, Dwi Listyo & Fujita, Yoshihisa, 2021, Hermit crabs of the family Paguridae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean Territory of Australia, with descriptions of three new species and reappraisal of the genus Kumepagurus Komai & Osawa, 2012, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 69, pp. 378-402 : 398-399

Pylopaguropsis bellula Osawa & Okuno, 2007

( Fig. 12B )

Pylopaguropsis bellula Osawa & Okuno, 2007: 31 , figs. 1–5, 6A, B, 7A, B (type locality: Kume Island, Ryukyu Islands); Arima, 2014: 175, unnumbered figs.; Osawa & Fujita, 2016: fig. 6C; 2019: 473, fig. 3A.

Material examined. COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS. ZRC 2021.0643 , 1 female (sl 3.0 mm; photo), CK17, Lion Cave Point , W of Direction Island, 12°05.722′N, 96°52.893′E, 28.9 m, 22 March 2011 ; QM W29573, 1 male (sl 3.2 mm; photo), CK19, S of Direction Island , 12°05.503′S, 96°52.904′E, 6.9 m, 22 March 2011 ; ZRC 2021.0644 , 1 female (sl 2.7 mm), CK21, Lion Cave Point , W of Direction Island, 12°05.722′S, 96°52.893′E, 29.1 m, 23 March 2011 .

Distribution. Previously known from Japan (Ryukyu Islands), at depths of 15–35 m ( Osawa & Okuno, 2007;

Osawa & Fujita, 2019). Newly recorded from the eastern Indian Ocean, 6.9–28.9 m deep.

Remarks. The specimens examined agree morphologically well with the original description of Pylopaguropsis bellulla by Osawa & Okuno (2007). The photographed specimen ( Fig. 12B ) shows somewhat faint colour on the right cheliped and ambulatory legs, compared with the published photographs of P. bellula (cf. Osawa & Okuno, 2007; Arima, 2014; Osawa & Fujita, 2016). We consider that the colour difference could be intraspecific.

Figures

Fig. 12. Habitus in dorsal view, showing living colouration. A, Pagurixus tweediei (Forest, 1956), ZRC 2021.0640, male (sl 3.6 mm); B, Pylopaguropsis bellula Osawa & Okuno, 2007, ZRC 2021.0643, female (sl 3.0 mm); C, Pylopaguropsis keijii McLaughlin & Haig, 1989, ZRC 2021.0645. Photographs by LKCNHM.