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

A small collection of pagurid hermit crabs, collected from coral reefs and marine caves on Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean Territory of Australia, was studied. The following 11 species, including three new to science, were identified: Eutrichopagurus granulimanus, new species; Kumepagurus noelensis, new species; Micropagurus polynesiensis (Nobili, 1906); Pagurixus carinimanus Komai & Osawa, 2006; P. depressus, new species; P. haigae Komai & Osawa, 2007; P. maorus (Nobili, 1906); P. nomurai Komai & Asakura, 1995; P. tweediei (Forest, 1956); Pylopaguropsis bellula Osawa & Okuno, 2007; and P. keijii McLaughlin & Haig, 1989. At Christmas Island, where the major part of the collection was done, seven of the eight species, including the three new species, are reported for the first time. Four species are recorded from Cocos (Keeling) Islands, of which three species of Pagurixus Melin, 1939, are reported for the first time. The generic assignment of E. granulimanus, new species, is considered provisional, because only the male holotype was available for study, and the original generic diagnosis was based only on female characters. The discovery of K. noelensis, new species, led the authors to reassess the generic assignment of K. kaikata Komai, 2020, for which a new genus Vounopagurus is proposed.

Automated summary

A small collection of pagurid hermit crabs from Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean Territory of Australia was studied, identifying 11 species including three new to science. Seven of the eight species found on Christmas Island, including the three new species, were reported for the first time. Four species were recorded from Cocos (Keeling) Islands, with three species of Pagurixus reported for the first time.