2019 Volume 74 Issue 1 Pages 35-40
Pseudopinnixa carinata (Crustacea: Decapoda: Varunidae) is a monotypic rare brachyuran endemic to the Japanese coast. Seventeen specimens of the crab were collected from tidal flats in Yamaguchi and Kochi Prefectures, Japan. The collection from Kochi Prefecture sets a new record from the Pacific coast of Shikoku. A review of P. carinata collection sites and the habitat information revealed that the species is widely distributed in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, but has never been collected in the Ryukyu Islands and southern Kyushu. This crab inhabits intertidal to subtidal sandy sediments with its deepest record being at 55 m depth. Several studies have shown that the crab was collected from sediments where burrowing invertebrates were abundant. Crabs have been found inside burrows of the echiuran Urechis unicinctus, the gebiidean shrimp Upogebia sakaii, and the axiidean shrimp Nihonotrypaea japonica by digging sediments. In this study, some specimens were pulled out from the burrows of N. japonica and other callianassid shrimp species as well as those of the polychaete Arenicola brasiliensis by yabby pumps.
