Ecology determines appearance: a new taxonomic solution for the soft bottom dwelling spider crab Pisoides bidentatus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873) from the Sea of Japan, with remarks on Pisoides ortmanni (Balss, 1924) and the northwestern Pacific Pugettia Dana, 1851 (Majoidea: Epialtidae)

Abstract

The northwestern Pacific soft bottom dwelling spider crab, Pisoides bidentatus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873) (Brachyura: Majoidea: Epialtidae), is re-described using an integrative approach. As a result, it is transferred to the genus Scyra Dana, 1851 (Epialtidae) based on morphological and molecular data, as well as already described larval morphology, which certainly better reflects the phylogenetic relationships of the species. Japanese Pisoides ortmanni (Balss, 1924), for which morphology and ecology are very similar to P. bidentatus as well as Pugettia quadridens (De Haan, 1839) and the closely related Pugettia ferox Ohtsuchi & Kawamura, 2019, are also transferred to Scyra. The “reduced” morphology of both species is very different from the related northwestern Pacific Scyra spp. and Pugettia spp., which are mostly decorating algae-dwellers. We associate the relatively long ambulatory legs, a smooth tear-drop shaped carapace with a reduced dorsal armature and slightly pronounced pseudorostral spines, characteristic of P. bidentatus and P. ortmanni with their open soft (mainly sand) bottom habitats, where it is difficult to find a foothold or shelter, but it is necessary to resist constant currents. Such morphology is also characteristic of spider crabs of the genera Libinia Leach, 1815 and Doclea Leach, 1815 (Epialtidae: Pisinae), which are also living in similar habitats/conditions and represent a convergent morphological appearance.