The co-authors!
More goodies from the Philippines stemming from RMBR’s expeditions to the Philippines in the last ten years by post-doctoral fellow, Dr JC Mendoza and long time RMBR collaborator Miss Marivene Manuel-Santos of the National Museum of the Philippines. This paper features a new subfamily of coral rubble crab, originally from the subfamily Chlorodiellinae and now transferred to a newly created subfamily, Garthiellinae. Also described is a new species of Garthiella collected from the Panglao 2004 expedition. Congratulations!
Abstract: Examination of the holotype and other specimens of the type species of Garthiella Titgen, 1986, G. aberrans (Rathbun, 1906), reveals that this genus must be excluded from Chlorodiellinae Ng & Holthuis, 2007, due to the absence of the diagnostic morphological features of the subfamily such as spoon-tipped chelae, prominent dactylo-propodal locks on the ambulatory legs, and subdistal teeth on the ambulatory dactyli. Garthiellinae subfam. nov. is therefore established for this genus, as molecular and morphological evidence show that it cannot be classified in any other subfamily of Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838. A new species of Garthiella from the Bohol Sea, central Philippines, is also described. Garthiella sikatuna sp. nov. can be distinguished from G. aberrans by its relatively flatter and less granular carapace, more pronounced and curved anterolateral teeth, longer and more slender pereopods and by the form of the male first gonopods.
What a new discovery! Excellent. Keep up the good work and make our country proud of you sir JC Mendoza.