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| A, Frodromia atypica (Sakai, 1936),; B, F. reticulata (Sakai, 1974); C, F. elegans, new species, holotype male, Taiwan; D, F. granulosa, new species, holotype male, Vanuatu; E, F, F. iners, new species, holotype male, Philippines. Ng, 2026 Photographs: C, T.-Y. Chan; D, J.C.E. Mendoza; E, F, P.K.L. Ng. |
Abstract
The taxonomy of the West Pacific dromiid genus, Frodromia McLay, 1993, is revised using a suite of characters pertaining to the carapace form and armature, proportions of the ambulatory dactylus, and structures of the pereopods, thoracic sternum, male pleon, and gonopods. The identity of the poorly known type species, F. atypica (Sakai, 1936), is clarified and the species is rediagnosed and illustrated based on the single non-type dried specimen available. Frodromia reticulata (Sakai, 1974) is also rediagnosed on the basis of a series of Japanese specimens. The material identified as F. atypica by McLay (1993) from New Caledonia and the Indonesian Moluccas is here shown to belong to two new species, F. granulosa and F. caileani, respectively; with F. granulosa also reported from Vanuatu. Two other new species, F. elegans and F. iners, are described from the South China Sea and the Philippines, respectively. As a result, Frodromia is hereby classified in the subfamily Frodromiinae Števčić, 2005, which was originally established as a tribe in Sphaerodromiinae Guinot & Tavares, 2003, and which is here redefined and rediagnosed.
Key words. sponge crab, Dromioidea, systematics, subfamily definition, new species, key to taxa, Indo-West Pacific
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| Colour in life. A, Frodromia atypica (Sakai, 1936), after Sakai (1936: pl. 2 fig. 1); B, F. reticulata (Sakai, 1974), after Sakai (1976: pl. 5 fig. 1); C, F. elegans, new species, holotype male (6.6 × 7.5 mm) (ZRC 2024.0144), Taiwan; D, F. granulosa, new species, holotype male (6.5 × 7.1 mm) (ZRC 2024.0517), Vanuatu; E, F, F. iners, new species, holotype male (6.3 × 7.0 mm) (ZRC 2024.0518), Philippines [partly covered with sand particles and debris]. Photographs: C, T.-Y. Chan; D, J.C.E. Mendoza; E, F, P.K.L. Ng. |
Frodromia granulosa
F. caileani
F. elegans
F. iners
PETER K. L. NG. 2026. Revision of Frodromia McLay, 1993 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Dromiidae) and the Status of Frodromiinae Števčić, 2005. RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY. 74: 332–358. DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2026-0023 [4 May 2026]