Dardanus fucosus Biffar & Provenzano, 1972

Nucci, Paulo Ricardo & Melo, Gustavo Augusto Schmidt De, 2015, Hermit crabs from Brazil: Family Diogenidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Paguroidea), except Paguristes, Zootaxa 3947 (3), pp. 327-346 : 336

Dardanus fucosus Biffar & Provenzano, 1972

( Figs 3 A, 6C)

Pagurias insignis Benedict, 1901b: 141 [part.].

Dardanus venosus .— Verrill, 1908a: 441, figs 58, 59, pl. 26, figs 4, 5 [part.].— Schmitt, 1935a: 201, fig. 62 [part.].— Provenzano, 1959: 374, fig. 6 [part.].— Holthuis, 1959: 153.— Cerame-Vivas, Williams & Gray, 1963: 157.— Williams, 1965: 123, fig. 99.

Petrochirus Diogenes. — Provenzano, 1963c: 242, figs 1–8.

Dardanus fucosus Biffar & Provenzano, 1972: 782 , figs 1A–4A, 5B, 6B.— Williams, 1984: 196, fig. 136.— Coelho & Ramos-Porto, 1986: 50.— Rieger, 1998: 420.— Melo, 1999:60, fig. 16.—McLaughlin et al., 2010: 20.

Material examined. Brazil: Maranhão—Proj. Geomar, st. 1, 3 spec. (DOUFPE—3903).

Diagnosis. Shield slightly longer than broad; with a shallow depression, heart-shaped on the frontal region; lateral projections with spinule and setae at end. Major cheliped with external surface covered with scabrous tubercles separated by short fringes of fan-shaped bristles. Second left ambulatory leg markedly different from the others, with dactyl and propodus extended and with fringe of bristles; dactyl with shallow groove on the ventral face and 1 row of tufts of bristles on each side of this groove.

Distribution. Western Atlantic—from North Carolina to Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Antilles and from Central America to Brazil (Amapá, Pará and Maranhão).

Remarks. The species of the genus Dardanus show remarkable similarity, which may make identification a problem. Dardanus fucosus and D. venosus are very close but can be distinguished by a shallow ventral groove in the dactyl of second left ambulatory leg of D. fucosus .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Shield and cephalic region: A, Dardanus fucosus; B, Dardanus insignis; C, Dardanus venosus; D, Isocheles sawayai.