Cheiroplatea Spence Bate, 1888

Komai, Tomoyuki & Chan, Tin-Yam, 2016, “ Symmetrical ” hermit crabs of the family Pylochelidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) collected by the “ BIOPAPUA ” and “ PAPUA NIUGINI ” expeditions in the Papua New Guinea, with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 4088 (3), pp. 301-328 : 309

Genus Cheiroplatea Spence Bate, 1888

Remarks. During this study, we examined the holotype of Cheiroplatea mitoi (KMNH-ZLKU 4070) from Japan and additional specimens from Taiwan (one female, NTOU) and the Solomon Sea (one female, MNHN) identified as that species by McLaughlin et al. (2007) and McLaughlin & Lemaitre (2009), respectively, in order to confirm if this species is really present in the South-West Pacific. We came to the conclusion that the specimen from the Solomon Sea reported by McLaughlin & Lemaitre (2009) does not represent C. mitoi , but C. pumicicola instead (for details, see “Remarks” under the account of C. pumicicola ). The specific identity of the specimen from Taiwan remains obscure. The Taiwanese specimen differs from the holotype of C. mitoi in the much more basally inflated ocular peduncle, bearing a row of minute granules on the dorsal margins of the propodi and carpi of the third pereopods, and a minute dorsodistal spine on each merus. Unfortunately, because of the damage to the cephalothorax, characters of the anterior part of the carapace in the Taiwanese specimen remain to be assessed. Consequently, we did not adopt the redescription of C. mitoi by McLaughlin & Lemaitre (2009) for comparison. Cheiroplatea has heretofore been represented by six species and the present study adds one new species from the Bismarck Sea. Morphologically, the genus is readily recognized by the shield being broader than long, the reduced, non-pigmented cornea, and the operculiform chelipeds.

A revised identification key to the species of Cheiroplatea is presented below.