Currently, 13 subfamilies are recognised in the brachyuran family Xanthidae: Actaeinae, Antrocarcininae, Chlorodiellinae, Cymoinae, Etisinae, Euxanthinae, Kraussiinae, Liomerinae, Polydectinae, Speocarcininae, Xanthinae, Zalasiinae and Zosiminae. This classification has been based on shared adult features like a transversely ovate carapace, well defined dorsal carapace regions, usually with lateral dentition, stout chelipeds and relatively short ambulatory legs. Such characters are now considered to be convergent. Consequently a number of higher xanthid taxa may be artifical and not monophyletic. A broad sample of 147 xanthid species representing 75 out of 124 genera from all 13 xanthid subfamilies were sampled in a multi-gene analysis. Four markers (three mitochondria] and one nuclear) were used and yielded a tree with ca. 30 xanthid clades. Monophyletic support was demonstrated for the Antrocarcininae (although substantially redefined), Cymoinae, and Polydectinae. Almost every other subfamily was para- or polyphyletic. Furthermore, the two other families of the Xanthoidea, Pseudorhombilidae and Panopeidae, were found nested within the Xanthidae. The molecular results were consistent with phylogenetic relationships implied by a suite of novel and/or neglected "ventral" adult characters including sternal characters, position of genital openings and morphology of the first zoea, instead of "dorsal" characters traditionally used to infer xanthid relationships. (C) 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

AURORA 2007, PANGLAO 2004, PANGLAO 2005, SANTO 2006, SMCB

A new species of xanthid crab of the genus Medaeus Dana, 1852, is described from the Bohol Sea in the central Philippines. Medaeus danielita new species, is similar to Medaeus aztec Davie, 1997, but can be easily differentiated from it by the structure of its carapace, ambulatory legs, and male first gonopods. It is only the second species of the genus known from the Philippines.

PANGLAO 2004, SMCB, SMIB 8

ATIMO VATAE, BIOMAGLO, MAINBAZA, MIRIKY, Walters Shoal

PANGLAO 2004

A new species of Alainodaeus Davie, 1993, is described from Balicasag Island in the central Philippines. Alainodaeus filipinus n. sp., can be differentiated from congeners by the characters of its carapace, chelipeds, ambulatory legs and male first gonopods. A key to the species of Alainodaeus is provided. The occurrence of A. filipinus in the Philippines represents a remarkable extension in the range of this genus, which was previously known only from islands in the southern and southwestern Pacific

PANGLAO 2004, PANGLAO 2005

PANGLAO 2004

Relatively few studies have been done to define or assess rarity in the marine environment. Published studies have focused on shallow-water and intertidal habitats, and the available information appears to reflect the same pattern observed in terrestrial environments, i.e., that there are many rare species and few common species in any one given area. However, our studies of the abundance of new and/or supposedly rare taxa of decapod crustaceans from the deep, steep slopes of the island of Balicasag, in the central Philippines, have raised questions on how rarity should be defined in marine invertebrates. Examples of such supposedly rare species of crabs and lobsters (Crustacea: Decapoda) are presented here. That these animals come from deep, steep slopes, a relatively under-studied habitat, highlights the major gaps in current knowledge of marine biodiversity that are in part due to the inadequacy of both traditional and high technology sampling methodologies and the limited habitat types that the former can target. Low-technology, artisanal tangle nets have proved to be an optimal capture technique for deep-water decapod crustaceans on deep, steep slopes; many new taxa have been discovered and, in other cases, perceptions of rarity and endemicity have been corrected.

PANGLAO 2004, PANGLAO 2005

LUMIWAN 2008, PANGLAO 2004

Examination of the holotype and other specimens of the type species of Garthiella Titgen, 1986, G. aberrans (Rathbun, 1906), reveals that this genus must be excluded from Chlorodiellinae Ng & Holthuis, 2007, due to the absence of the diagnostic morphological features of the subfamily such as spoon-tipped chelae, prominent dactylo-propodal locks on the ambulatory legs, and subdistal teeth on the ambulatory dactyli. Garthiellinae subfam. nov. is therefore established for this genus, as molecular and morphological evidence show that it cannot be classified in any other subfamily of Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838. A new species of Garthiella from the Bohol Sea, central Philippines, is also described. Garthiella sikatuna sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. aberrans by its relatively flatter and less granular carapace, more pronounced and curved anterolateral teeth, longer and more slender pereopods and by the form of the male first gonopods.

PANGLAO 2004

A new species of xanthid crab (Brachyura: Xanthidae) is described from the Bohol Sea in the central Philippines. Xanthias joanneae sp. nov. is most similar in morphology to X. maculatus Sakai, 1961 (type locality: Sagami Bay, Japan), particularly in the presence of distinctive ocelli on the carapace and pereopods. It can be separated from this species by the greater number of ocelli on the dorsal surface of the carapace, wider teeth separated by narrow notches on the carapace anterolateral margin, absence of longitudinal ridges on the external surface of the chelar palm, shorter and stouter ambulatory legs, narrower male anterior thoracic sternum, and stouter G1.

PANGLAO 2004

PANGLAO 2004

PANGLAO 2004, PANGLAO 2005

Non‐geniculate coralline algae are difficult to identify based solely on morpho‐anatomy. To address the systematics of several taxonomically challenging taxa, we analyzed DNA sequences of a short portion (118‐296 base pairs) of the 3’ end of the rbcL gene from three type specimens. The analyses revealed that Harveylithon munitum (basionym: Lithophyllum munitum), described in 1906 from Cave Cays, Exuma Chain, Bahamas, is conspecific with both Goniolithon accretum and Goniolithon affine, described in 1906 from Sand Key, Florida and in 1907 from Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, respectively. L. munitum and G. accretum were described in the same 1906 publication and have equal priority. We have selected the currently accepted and most commonly used name H. munitum to apply to this entity. Comparative analyses of rbcL, psbA, UPA, COI, and LSU sequences from contemporary field‐collected specimens revealed that H. munitum currently inhabits mesophotic rhodolith beds in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the intertidal zone in the Florida Keys, Honduras, Atlantic Mexico, Caribbean Panama, and Guadeloupe, French West Indies. Species delimitation analyses reveal that the Western Atlantic and Australian H. munitum populations may be separate species. Two new species of Harveylithon from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and one new species from the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Red Sea were also identified in the analyses and are described.

KARUBENTHOS 2012

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently adopted DNA barcoding for the purpose of determining the species identity of commercial seafood products. This effort has revealed instances of incongruence between current scientifically accepted taxon names and those utilized by the seafood industry in product labelling. One such case is that of “ Portunushaanii ”, a name utilized by the seafood industry to label commercial products under the market name “red swimming crab.” However, carcinologists currently regard P.haanii as synonym of Portunusgladiator Fabricius, 1798, which itself is the subject of debate over whether it is a secondary homonym of Cancer gladiator Fabricius, 1793. Further complicating matters, DNA barcode sequences from commercial products match GenBank sequences identified as Portunuspseudoargentatus Stephenson, 1961. Here the complicated taxonomic history of the Portunusgladiator complex is reviewed and a resolution proposed based on combined morphological descriptions and molecular phylogenetic analyses. It is demonstrated that, given the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the current elevation of Monomia Gistel, 1848, to full genus rank, its type species, Portunusgladiator Fabricius, 1798, should be treated as a valid and available taxon name. It is also shown, upon examination and comparison of types and topotypic material that Monomiahaanii (Stimpson, 1858) is a distinct taxon from M.gladiator , and Portunuspseudoargentatus Stephenson, 1961, is a junior subjective synonym of M.haanii (Stimpson, 1858). Furthermore, it is shown that crab meat sold in the US currently labeled as “ Portunushaanii ” and/or “red swimming crab” is in fact M.haanii using comparative analysis of DNA barcode sequences between museum-vouchered reference specimens, whole crabs provided directly by a seafood importer, and processed commercial products purchased at retail.

CORAIL 2, SMIB 6