Pylojacquesidae | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Crustacea |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Superfamily: | Paguroidea |
Family: |
Pylojacquesidae McLaughlin & Lemaitre, 2001 |
Species | |
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The Pylojacquesidae are a small family of hermit crabs, comprising only two species in two genera. The family was erected in 2001, after two specimens at Museum für Naturkunde at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin were recognised as being quite distinct from other described hermit crabs. The family members differ from other hermit crabs in that their mandibles are chitinous and toothed.
Pylojacquesia colemani was described in 2001, based on two specimens discovered in the Museum für Naturkunde (natural history museum) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The specimens had been collected in 1875 by the S.M.S. Gazelle at 26°51.1′S 153°29.6′E / 26.8517°S 153.4933°E in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Brisbane, Australia. It lives in the tubes secreted by serpulid worms of the genus Protula (Annelida: Serpulidae) in sandy areas of the continental shelf. The specific epithet commemorates Charles Oliver Coleman, curator of Crustacea at the Museum für Naturkunde.