Pagurus kulkarnii Sankoli, 1962

Rahayu, Dwi Listyo, 2022, Hermit crabs of Singapore (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae, Paguridae), with description of two new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 70, pp. 329-363 : 352-353

Pagurus kulkarnii Sankoli, 1962

( Fig. 14B )

Pagurus kulkarnii Sankoli, 1962: 136 , figs. 1, 2 (type locality: Bombay, India); Komai & Rahayu, 2014: 623 , fig. 1B (complete synonymies).

Not Pagurus kulkarnii Morgan, 1987b: 182 ; Morgan, 1990: 27 (= Pagurus hedleyi Grant & McCulloch, 1906 ).

Material examined. 1 male, 3.6 mm ( ZRC 2021.0251 ), East Coast beach, 25 June 2013 ; 1 male, 4.2 mm ( MZB Cru 5224), st. D07, Pulau Ubin , 6 March 2012 ; 1 ovigerous female, 3.3 mm ( MZB Cru 5225), Chek Java, 1 July 2009 ; 1 male, 3.8 mm ( ZRC 2021.0252 ), st. SW31, Pulau Sekudu , 18 October 2012 ; 1 ovigerous female, 4.2 mm ( ZRC 2021.0253 ), st. SW23, Chek Jawa, seagrass, 17 October 2012 .

Colour in life. Shield mottled with greenish brown and pinkish white, bluish black large streaks on dorsal surface, smaller patches of dark blue on anterior and posterior parts. Ocular peduncle generally pinkish white, broad brown band proximally, narrower brown band proximal to cornea. Antennular peduncle generally brown but darker distally, articulation between ultimate and penultimate segments white, flagella light brown tinge and orange. Antennal peduncle and antennal acicle white with dark brown spots, flagellum alternately white and brown. Palm and dactyl of both chelipeds with broad dark brown stripe, light brown patch on distal area of dactyl and fixed finger, spines white, carpus and merus pinkish white with large black stripes and blotches. P2 and P3 generally pinkish white, with broad black stripes, not reaching distal and proximal ends of each segment ( Fig. 14B ).

Distribution. Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan; intertidal, on sandy mud substrate on seagrass bed.

Remarks. The specimens examined in this study agree well with the original description of P. kulkarnii by Sankoli (1962). The living colouration is brighter (the ambulatory legs are pinkish white with broad black stripes sometimes tinged with orange) compared to the specimens reported by McLaughlin et al. (2007) from Taiwan and Komai & Rahayu (2014) from the Philippines in which the colour of the ambulatory legs was darker pink with brown stripes.

Figures

Fig. 14. A, Pagurus hedleyi (Grant & McCulloch, 1906), male, not measured and sexed, st. SD25, St John’s Island, 01°12.882′N 103°50.952′E, 22 May 2013; B, Pagurus kulkarnii Sankoli, 1962, ovigerous female, 4.2 mm (ZRC 2021.0253); C, D, Pagurus pitagsaleei McLaughlin, 2002a, C, male, not collected, st. SD25, St John’s Island, 01°12.882′N 103°50.952′E, 22 May 2013; D, male, 4.9 mm (ZRC 2021.0239); E, Pagurus tenuilineatus, new species, paratype, male, 4.2 mm (ZRC 2021.0255); F, Spiropagurus spiriger (De Haan, 1849), ovigerous female, not collected, Johor Strait.