Revision of Garthiella Titgen, 1986 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Xanthidae), with description of a new subfamily and a new species from the central Philippines

Abstract

Examination of the holotype and other specimens of the type species of Garthiella Titgen, 1986, G. aberrans (Rathbun,1906), reveals that this genus must be excluded from Chlorodiellinae Ng & Holthuis, 2007, due to the absence of thediagnostic morphological features of the subfamily such as spoon-tipped chelae, prominent dactylo-propodal locks on theambulatory legs, and subdistal teeth on the ambulatory dactyli. Garthiellinae subfam. nov. is therefore established for thisgenus, as molecular and morphological evidence show that it cannot be classified in any other subfamily of XanthidaeMacLeay, 1838. A new species of Garthiella from the Bohol Sea, central Philippines, is also described. Garthiellasikatuna sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. aberrans by its relatively flatter and less granular carapace, more pronounced and curved anterolateral teeth, longer and more slender pereopods and by the form of the male first gonopods.