Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve survey reveals new records of xanthid crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Xanthidae) from northern Australia

Abstract

Iwasa-Arai, T., McCallum, A.W. and Taylor, J. 2015. Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve survey reveals new records of xanthid crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Xanthidae) from northern Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 73: 1–11. Sampling in 2012 (SOL5650 and SS2012t07) by the RV Solander and RV Southern Surveyor resulted in a small collection of decapod crustaceans, including brachyuran crabs. The surveys were undertaken on the shelf off northern Australia, including within the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve as part of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Research Program Marine Biodiversity Hub. Here we report on nine species of Xanthidae collected during these surveys, including specimens from the subfamilies Actaeinae, Euxanthinae, Liomerinae and Zosiminae. Two species are reported for the first time in Australian waters (Acteodes mutatus (Ortmann, 1894) and Atergatopsis granulata A. Milne Edwards, 1865).