:4 f^/0y^^ Caribbean journal of Science, Vol. 41, No. 3, 544-582, 2005 Copyright 2005 College of Arts and Sciences University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Review of the Western Atlantic Porcellanidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) with New Records, Systematic Observations, and Comments on Biogeography IRENE TERESA RODRIGUEZ1, GONZALO HERNANDEZ2, AND DARRYL L. FELDER1* ^Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 42451, Lafayette, Louisiana 70504, U.S.A. ^Corresponding author:
[email protected] 2Universidad de Oriente, Apartado Postal 074, La Asuncion, Isla Margarita, Venezuela ABSTRACT.—Fifty years following a major revision by Haig (1956) and after numerous additions and changes of status, the porcelain crab fauna of the western Atlantic numbers 48 valid species plus two undescribed species herein reported (Neopisosoma sp. and Pachycheles sp.). Eleven genera are known for the region, including three new genera (Neopisosoma, Clastotoechus, and Parapetrolisthes). The monospecific genus Madarateuchus, established by Harvey (1999) to receive Clastotoechus vanderhorsti, is rejected. Pisidia was resurrected, and Porcellanopsis was combined with Megalobrachium. Prompted by our efforts to under stand biogeographic relationships of porcellanids from Bocas del Toro, Panama, our study of over 400 western Atlantic records revealed undescribed species and northward range extensions for four species (Petrolisthes quadratus to U.S.A., Petrolisthes rosariensis and P. sanmartini to Belize, and Megalobrachium mortenseni to Honduras). Preliminary morphological and molecular studies have shown that Petrolisthes armatus, P. galathinus, and P. tridentatus present considerable intra-specific variability throughout their range, suggesting that further revisionary studies are required to fully resolve their taxonomic status. KEYWORDS.—Porcellanids, porcelain crabs, Gulf of Mexico, distribution INTRODUCTION have been recorded in the Americas (Gore 1982).