First record of varunid crab Sestrostoma toriumii (Crustacea: Decapoda: Varunidae) from Korea

Abstract

The south-western coast of the Korean peninsula contains extensive muddy and sandy tidal flats where burrows of marine animals can be found easily at low tide. Crabs of the genus Sestrostoma Davie and N. K. Ng, 2007 are often found within the burrows of thallassinids, callianassids, and echiurans. A varunid crab Sestrostoma toriumii (Takeda, 1974), associated with thallassinid Upogebia major (De Haan, 1841) and echiuran Urechis unicinctus (Von Drasche, 1881), is newly reported from Korean waters as a result of continuous taxonomic studies on crabs. The present specimens agree very well with the original description although they are smaller. The distribution of Korean S. toriumii is limited to the southern coast. The description and illustration of this species are provided in the present poster, and are also compared with the morphology and distribution of Korean Sestrostoma balssi (Shen, 1932).