A new species of the genus Paramunida Baba, 1988 (Decapoda: Galatheoidea, Munididae) from the Verde Island Passage (Philippines)

Abstract

Herein, we describe a new species of the squat lobster genus Paramunida collected during the 2011 Hearst Philippine Biodiversity Expedition. The new species is distinguished from other Paramunida species by the presence of distinctly slender pereiopods, the spination of the dorsal surface of the carapace and the shape of the spines on the antennal peduncle. Phylogenetic analyses place the new species as the sister taxon to the clade including P. cracentis Macpherson, Rodríguez-Flores & Machordom, 2020 and P. spica Cabezas, Macpherson & Machordom, 2010 from Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, respectively. However, genetic divergence between the new species and its closest relatives exceeds 10% for the COI marker. A three-dimensional reconstruction of the new species, obtained through micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), is also provided to contribute to a virtual 3D type collection for squat lobster taxonomy.