Whether invertebrates are able or not to experience pain is a highly controversial issue. An operative way to solve such a controversy might be to investigate their responses to potentially noxious stimuli and to collect evidence of their behavioural complexities as proxies of cognitive capacities. The principle of argument-by-analogy can be then applied to these data: the behaviour displayed b...

A new genus and new species of semi-terrestrial crab of the family Potamidae, Binhthuanomon vinhtan n. sp., is described from south central Vietnam. The new genus is morphologically closest to Villopotamon Dang & Ho, 2003, and Balssipotamon Dang & Ho, 2008, in the shapes of the carapace and first gonopod but is easily distinguished by distinct carapace characteristics and gonopod 1 structures, ...

Recent phylogenetic work (Ashelby et al., 2012) has demonstrated the need for a fresh appraisal of the systematic status of some Palaemoninae genera. In the present contribution the accumulated morphological as well as molecular evidence is reviewed. The genera Palaemonetes, Exopalaemon and Coutierella are demonstrated to be junior synonyms of Palaemon, which now contains 83 species. As a resul...

A new crab Liomerinae, Neoliomera moana sp. nov., is described from the Marquesas Islands, based on three specimens collected by hand at the entrance of submarine caves at depths of 6-28 m. Within the genus the new species belongs to a group of six species that have the carapace cristate on the anterolateral margins. It can be recognized by the presence of a double crest on the upper margin of ...

Galathea ternatensis De Man, 1902 and Raymunida iranica n. sp., are reported from the Iranian coast as the first records of squat lobster species from the Persian Gulf. The new species morphologically resembles R. cagnetei Macpherson & Machordom, 2000, but is unique in the genus in having a small spine near the base of each supraocular spine and a spine ventral to the second branchial marginal ...

Cancer urania Herbst, 1801, is the type species of the leucosiid genus Coleusia Galil, 2006. Its identity has been a subject of confusion due to various taxonomical and nomenclatural issues. We redescribe the species, discuss its complex history and taxonomy, and a female syntype is designated as the lectotype of the species to clarify any lingering ambiguities concerning the type material of C...

The inachid spider crab genus, Parapleisticantha Yokoya, 1933 [type species: Parapleisticantha japonica Yokoya, 1933] is removed from the synonymy of Pleistacantha Miers, 1879 [type species: Pleistacantha sanctijohannis Miers, 1879], and recognised as a valid genus. Parapleisticantha differs from Pleistacantha sensu stricto primarily by having a less spiny carapace, stouter and more inflated ma...

A new species of pontoniine shrimp, Onycocaris maui sp. nov., from Maui Island, Hawai'i, is described and illustrated. A heterosexual pair were found in an intertidal Haliclona sponge. A member of the O. quadratophthalma species group, its relationships are discussed and a key provided for their identification.

In the past only very few works dealt with fossil decapod crustaceans from Slovakia. The systematic research of this group has never been fully conducted there. This contribution provides a short review of all known Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossil decapod occurrences. So far, most of the taxa were described from the Eocene and Miocene strata.

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs, reefs 30-150 m) are understudied, yet the limited research conducted has been biased towards large sessile taxa, such as scleractinian corals and sponges, or mobile taxa such as fishes. Here we investigate zooplankton communities on shallow reefs and MCEs around Utila on the southern Mesoamerican Barrier Reef using planktonic light traps. Zooplankton samples w...