Eight species from seven genera of crabs from two families are reported for the first time from the coastal areas of Taiwan, including estuaries, coral reefs and sandy beaches. These are Clistocoeloma balansae A. Milne-Edwards, 1873, C. villosum (A. Milne-Edwards, 1869) and Parasesarma ungulatum (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) of the Sesarmidae; and Cyclograpsus longipes Stimpson, 1858, Otognathon uru N. K. Ng, Komai & P. K. L. Ng, 2009, Ptychognathus pilosus De Man, 1892, Pyxidognathus granulosus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879 and Scutumara laniger (Tesch, 1918) of the Varunidae.
The identity of the tree-spider crab, Parasesarma leptosoma (Hilgendorf, 1869) (family Sesarmidae), which is believed to be widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, is reassessed and shown to be a species-complex with nine species, seven of which are here described as new. Parasesarma leptosoma sensu stricto is now restricted to South and East Africa; and P. limbense (Rathbun, 1914) from Sulawesi, which had been regarded as a junior synonym, is here recognized as a valid species. The following species are described as new: P. gecko n. sp. from Vanuatu, Fiji, Guam and Japan; P. macaco n. sp. from Taiwan and the Philippines; P. kui n. sp. from Taiwan; P. parvulum n. sp. from the Philippines; P. gracilipes n. sp. from Indonesian Papua; P. purpureum n. sp. from Malaysia; and P. tarantula n. sp. from Sulawesi, Indonesia. The nine species of the Parasesarma leptosoma species-complex can be separated by the different shapes of their carapaces, the form of the dactylar tubercles on the male chelipeds, proportions of their ambulatory legs and the structure of the male first gonopod.
The brackish-water crabs of the genus Ptychognathus Stimpson, 1858, the most diverse genus in the family Varunidae, inhabit the estuaries or seashores influenced by freshwater. Ptychognathus sakaii, a new species from Kenting, southern Taiwan, is described in this study, with a comprehensive key to the ten species of this genus from Taiwan. This new species is similar to its congeners, but can be distinguished mainly by the features of the carapace, ambulatory legs, and male first gonopods.
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