A new enigmatic species of pea crab of the genus Glassella Campos & Wicksten, 1997 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Pinnotheridae) from Brazilian waters

Abstract

Abstract The genus Glassella had never been formally recorded in Brazil. Coelho (1996, 1997) assigned specimens collected in northeastern Brazil, in the states of Maranhão and Pernambuco, to Pinnixa floridana, a species that was recently allocated to Glassella and had its rediagnosis proposed. The reassessment of the material analysed by Coelho and the study of three additional specimens collected during an offshore expedition in the state of Espírito Santo resulted in the discovery and description of a new species and the recognition of another undescribed species of Glassella in Brazilian waters. The new species is herein named G. schubarti sp. nov., in honour of the late Christoph D. Schubart, who has made many important contributions to the study of evolution and diversity of brachyuran crabs. These species represent the southernmost records of the genus and the first species of Glassella described from Brazil.