Abstract:

A new genus and new species of blind freshwater cave crab are described from Chongzuo City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China based on morphology and mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences. The new genus, Phasmon gen. nov., is established for P. typhlops sp. nov., which is only the second blind cave crab known from China and East Asia. The combination of a very wide carapace, overall depigmentation, reduced orbits and vestigial unpigmented eyes of Phasmon immediately separates it from all known potamid genera. Molecular divergence estimates based on 16S rDNA suggest that the lineage to which the new genus belongs diverged from other potamids at the beginning of the Late Miocene (10.8 million years ago), much earlier than other Chinese cave crabs.

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