A left-handed hermit

Ciliopagurus caparti belongs to the group of hermit crabs that is sometimes called left- handed because the left claw is larger than the right, as opposed to the situation in other hermit crabs. C. caparti was originally described as a new genus Trizopagurus. The original description in Bulletin, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 28(39): 1–8 is available for download from ATOL:Decapoda. We hope that our just submitted samples will yield DNA-barcodes of the species in the BOLD database.

Ciliopagurus caparti expelled from its snail shell residence

Ciliopagurus caparti expelled from its snail shell residence

Geographic position of a new sample to the BOLD-database

Geographic position of a new sample to the BOLD-database

 

Slipper lobster

I just photographed some specimens from the family Scyllaridae, and they are such funny looking critters that I decide to share them on the blog. The Scyllaridae are found in all warm oceans and seas, and typically live from shallow water and down to depths of about 500 m (according to Wikipedia).

Scyllarus carpati from Mauritania

Scyllarus carpati from Mauritania

Pictured is a Scyllarus carpati from Mauritania, collected by sledge at 100 meters.

If you click here, you can se the distribution of the species, as well as its IUCN Red List status. We will take tissue samples from this specimen and send it for COI DNA barcoding, which will be incorporated in the BOLD database. There are records of specimens from the same genus recorded in BOLD already, but none of this particular species, as you can see if you search for Scyllarus carpati here.

Summing up the polychaete work

A species of bristle worms (Polychaeta) in a genus that has not previously been found in West Africa.

A species of bristle worms (Polychaeta) in a genus that has not previously been found in West Africa.

The workshop identified about 140 species of Polychaeta.At least 12 of the species are clearly new to science. Five genera that have not been recoded from African waters were also identified. 385 specimens were selected for DNA-barcoding.