A new species of Galathea (Decapoda, Galatheidae) from the seamounts of the Easter Island area (Southeast Pacific Ocean Ridge) associated with a sea urchin

By

Gallardo Salamanca, María De Los Ángeles
Asorey, Cynthia
Macpherson, Enrique

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-8-4

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1248

Pages

111--123

Subjects

Barcoding , Crustacea , Galatheoidea , Symbiosis , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1248.159542

 

Abstract

Galathea tukitukimeasp. nov. is described from the seamounts near Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and represents the first record of the genus for this region of the Pacific Ocean and for Chilean territory. The new species belongs to the group of species having the carapace with median protogastric and cardiac spines. G. tukitukimea has always been observed associated with the sea urchin Stereocidaris nascaensis. This potential mimicry-based association is uncommon in squat lobsters, which warrants further study.