Abstract

KARASAWA, Hiroaki  and  OHARA, Masaaki. Ponotus shirahamensis, a new genus and species of raninid crab (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the Miocene Tanabe Group of Japan. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2009, vol.61, n.2, pp.199-202. ISSN 1405-3322.

Ponotus shirahamensis, a new genus and species of the crab family Raninidae (Decapoda: Brachyura) is described from the lowermost middle Miocene Tanabe Group in Wakayama Prefecture of central Japan. Ponotus shirahamensis represents the second record for the family Raninidae from the Miocene deposits of Japan. Ponotus is most similar to Notopus, an extant monotypic genus of the Notopodinae, but is characterized by the absence of a spinose transverse ridge between the hepatic spines on the dorsal carapace.

Keywords : Crustacea; Decapoda; Japan; Miocene; Raninidae.