Cancer koehler Curtiss, 1938

Ng, Peter K. L., Eldredge, Lucius G. & Evenhuis, Neal L., 2011, The names of decapod and stomatopod Crustacea from Tahiti, French Polynesia, established by Anthony Curtiss in 1938 and 1944, Zootaxa 3099, pp. 43-56 : 47

Cancer koehler Curtiss, 1938 [uá]

Cenobita spinosa H. Milne Edwards, 1837: 242 (incorrect spelling of Coenobita ).

Cancer koehler Curtiss, 1938: 168 , n. syn.

Curtiss (1938: 168) notes that “The Tahiti hermit crab has its front legs, which are provided with pincers, prickly and covered with short, bristly hair; the left claw is larger than the right one. The stalks of the eyes are compressed (flattened in from the sides.) The exposed surface of the claws and other feet are very dark, dull red. The inner side of the claws and of the legs are pale reddish and greenish”. Two species of land hermit crabs ( Coenobitidae ) are present on Tahiti: Coenobita perlatus H. Milne Edwards, 1837 , and C. spinosus H. Milne Edwards, 1837 ( Poupin 1994, 1996; Poupin & Juncker 2010). On the basis of Curtiss’s description, Cancer koehler is most probably C. spinosus . Joseph Poupin (personal communication) commented that “I have personally collected Coenobita spinosus in Tahiti, Taravao, near Tautira where Curtiss was living. This species can be deeper inland but is also observed near the seashore and occasionally even on the beach” (see also Poupin 1994: 14). Poupin (1994: 14) also wrote that “Le spécimen récolté à Tahiti est entièrement noir; celui récolté en 1989 à Moorea a des restes de coloration rouge violette”, which is close to Curtiss’s description of the live colour (see Poupin & Juncker 2010: 54–55). The other species in Tahiti, C. perlatus , is far less setose overall (and certainly its setae cannot be described as “bristles”) and more brightly coloured, being more uniformly coloured bright red to orange (see Poupin & Juncker 2010: 50–51).