Twenty species of porcelain crabs are reported on the basis of material collected from Brazilian coasts. Considering the lack of systematic studies comprehending the Brazilian porcellanids, the present work presents a review of the regional species based on the current taxonomic information. New records, information about variation between specimens and a taxonomic discussion are given for porcellanid crabs from Brazil.

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Three species in two genera of porcelain crabs are reported from the remote oceanic archipelago of Trindade and Martin Vaz one of which, Pachycheles meloi, new to science. The new species is morphologically similar to Pachycheles riisei (Stimpson, 1858) from the inner continental shelf between Florida (USA) and São Paulo (Brazil), of which Pachycheles meloi sp. nov. differs by a suite of carapace and appendage characters, including the presence of a pair of male gonopods on the second abdominal segment (absent in P. riisei). The new species is additionally compared to other congeners. Opportunity is taken to elaborate on the taxonomy of Petrolisthes amoenus (Guérin-Méneville, 1855) and Petrolisthes marginatus (Stimpson, 1859). The Trindade and Martin Vaz Archipelago contain a strongly depauperate porcellanid fauna of western Atlantic affinities.

Two species of the palaemonid genus Periclimenaeus Borradaile, 1915, P. ascidiarum Holthuis, 1951 and P. maxillulidens (Schmitt, 1936, are reported from the offshore Escalvada Island, Espírito Santo, Brazil. The location represents a new southernmost record for these species in the western Atlantic. Both species were found inside an undescribed tunicate species of Diplosoma, dwelling inside the circulatory channels, among the zooid clusters. Although P. ascidiarum is known to occur in tunicates, the finding of the rare P. maxillulidens inside an ascidian host represents the first record of this association. Illustrations for both species and a taxonomic key for the southwestern Atlantic Periclimenaeus are provided based on the present material and literature records.