A new species of riverine crab of the genus Sundathelphusa Bott, 1969 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae) from northeastern Luzon, Philippines

Abstract

A new species of riverine freshwater crab of the genus Sundathelphusa Bott, 1969, is described from Cagayan Province in northeastern Luzon Island, Philippines. Sundathelphusa cagayana, a new species, is most similar morphologically to other Philippine species with a subquadrate carapace such as S. antipoloensis (Rathbun, 1904), S. grapsoides (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) and S. wolterecki (Balss, 1937) but differs from each by characters of the carapace, epibranchial teeth, ambulatory legs, male abdomen, and gonopods. This discovery brings to 22 the total number of species of Sundathelphusa found in the Philippines. A list of the Sundathelphusa species presently known from the Philippines and their known localities is also provided.