Researchers have recently described three newly discovered species of hermit crab currently found only in Bohol Sea.
In a recently published study, three new species of hermit crab namely: Catapagurus exilidigitus, Catapagurus fimbriatus, and Catapagurus latus were described and illustrated based on materials collected by the Panglao 2004 Marine Biodiversity Project from the Bohol Sea.
The official descriptions of the new species of hermit crabs were published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on May 17 by Tomoyuki Komai and Dwi Listyo Rahayu.
“The number of species of Catapagurus known from the Philippines increases to seven,” the researchers said.
In the study, experts described Catapagurus exilidigitus as appears to be closest to another species of hermit crab called C. tanimbarensis within the C. misakiensis species group.
But they noted that the new crab species can be distinguished from the latter through the wide U-shaped median cleft of the telson.
Researchers explained that the Latin word exilidigitus, which translates to thin toes, refers to the very slender dactyli of the ambulatory legs of the new species.
This crab species from the Bohol Sea can be found at depths between 100 to 138 meters (m).
Meanwhile, Catapagurus fimbriatus has been observed to have a characteristic fringe of setae on the mesial surfaces of the ambulatory dactyli and propodi of the pereopods.
Researchers said this new species can be found in Bohol Sea at depths of around 77 to 137 m.
The new species was named after the Latin word “fimbriatus” or fringe which refers to the characteristic setation of its ambulatory dactyli.
On the other hand, Catapagurus latus appears to be closest to C. haigae in the general shape and armature of the ambulatory dactyli within the C. ensifer species group, “but might be unique within the group in having a setal cluster on the distoventral portion of each ambulatory propodus.”
Named after the Latin word “latus” which means broad, this new species features a broadly blade-shaped dactyli on its ambulatory legs. It can be found at a shallower depths of 67 to 74 meters.
The Panglao 2004 Marine Biodiversity Project was a collaboration between the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris and the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
The project was supported by the Total Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the ASEAN Regional Center for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC).