GALATHEIDAE SAMOUELLE, 1819

Martin, Joel W. & Haney, Todd A., 2005, Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (4), pp. 445-522 : 476

FAMILY GALATHEIDAE SAMOUELLE, 1819

Remarks: Galatheids, considered as a group to be ubiquitous members of the deep-sea fauna, have been reported from vents and seeps since the discovery of these habitats in the late 1970s (see Chevaldonné & Olu, 1996). As pointed out by Chevaldonné & Olu (1996), the great morphological similarity among genera and species of galatheids has led to some rather vague general references to these decapods at vents and seeps, such that identification even to genus is not always possible from the literature or from photographs. Although several species have been described and are to date known only from vent areas, all species are assumed by us to be vagrants rather than endemics. See Chevaldonné & Olu (1996: 293) for an in-depth discussion of sightings of various galatheids (some of which might be chirostylids) that are as yet unidentified. These reports include Kim & Ohta (1991: fig. 10, ‘galatheid crabs with broad rostrum’) and other unconfirmed sightings.