Rediscovery of a deep-water paguroid crab Xylocheles miersi (Alcock & Anderson, 1899) (Decapoda: Anomura) from the Andaman Sea, India

Abstract

This paper reports the rediscovery of a rare deep-water pylochelid hermit crab, Xylocheles miersi (Alcock and Anderson, 1899), from the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone based on a specimen collected off Narcondam Island, the Andaman Sea, using a High-Speed Demersal Trawl at a depth of 300 m. This is the second record of this species from the type locality. Detailed photographs of the morphological characters of the present specimen and its DNA barcodes of the partial mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA genes are provided herein.