Pylochelidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Cladus: Pancrustacea
Superclassis: Multicrustacea
Classis: Malacostraca
Subclassis: Eumalacostraca
Superordo: Eucarida
Ordo: Decapoda
Subordo: Pleocyemata
Infraordo: Anomura
Superfamilia: Paguroidea

Familia: Pylochelidae
Subfamiliae (3): Pomatochelinae – Pylochelinae – Trizochelinae

Overview of genera (10): Bathycheles – Cancellocheles – Cheiroplatea – Cretatrizocheles – Forestocheles – Mixtopagurus – Pomatocheles – Pylocheles – Trizocheles – Xylocheles

Unaccepted genera (1): Parapylocheles
Name

Pylochelidae Bate, 1888: 10

Type genus: Pylocheles A. Milne Edwards, 1880.
Synonyms

Parapylochelidae Forest, 1987
Pomatochelidae Stebbing, 1914

References

Bate, C.S. 1888. Report on the Crustacea Macrura collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the Years 1873–76. In: Murray, J.: Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873–76 [...]. Zoology. Vol. 24. Edinburgh, Neill and Company. xc + 942 pp. BHL, plates Reference page.
McLaughlin, P.A.; Lemaitre, R. 2009: A new classification for the Pylochelidae (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguroidea) and descriptions of new taxa. Raffles bulletin of zoology, supplement (20 ): 159–231. PDF
Fraaije, R.H.B., Klompmaker, A.A. & Artal, P. 2012. New species, genera and a family of hermit crabs (Crustacea, Anomura, Paguroidea) from a mid-Cretaceous reef of Navarra, northern Spain. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen 263(1): 85–92. DOI: 10.1127/0077-7749/2012/0213 Reference page.

Vernacular names
日本語: ツノガイヤドカリ科
中文: 守门寄居蟹科

The Pylochelidae are a family of hermit crabs. Its members are commonly called the 'symmetrical hermit crabs'.[2] They live in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic and the Antarctic,[2] at depths of 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[3] Due to their cryptic nature and relative scarcity, only around 60 specimens had been collected before 1987, when a monograph was published detailing a further 400.[4]
Description

Unlike other hermit crabs, pylochelid hermit crabs are not markedly asymmetrical, with a straight body and equal numbers of appendages on both sides. This characteristic, together with the partial calcification of the abdomen (which is soft in other hermit crabs) led Edward J. Miers, when describing the first species, to consider it to represent a transition between hermit crabs and "Macrura" (long-tailed decapods, such as lobsters and shrimp).[5] Correspondingly, pylochelid hermit crabs do not usually inhabit gastropod shells, but instead withdraw into decayed pieces of wood, stones, tusk shells (especially Dentaliidae),[6] living sponges,[3] pieces of bamboo or mangroves.[6] Their claws are often adapted to form an operculum, which closes off the entrance to their home.[6]
Distribution

Although the family as a whole has a global distribution, diversity is concentrated in the Indo-Pacific,[5] with only four species being found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea (Cheiroplatea scutata, Pylocheles agassizii, Bathycheles cubensis and Mixtopagurus paradoxus). Pylochelid hermit crabs inhabit a great range in water depths, from 100 to 2,200 m (330 to 7,220 ft),[4] with most living between 200 and 500 m (660 and 1,640 ft) deep.[3]
Genera

The family contains 41 species in 10 genera:[7][8]

Bathycheles – six species
Cancellocheles – one species
Cheiroplatea – six species
† Cretatrizocheles – one species
Forestocheles – one species
Mixtopagurus – one species
Pomatocheles – three species
Pylocheles – two species
Trizocheles – 18 species
Xylocheles – two species

References

"Pylochelidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
P. McLaughlin; S. Ahyong & J. K. Lowry (October 2, 2002). "Pylochelidae Bate, 1888". Anomura: Families. Australian Museum. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
Jacques Forest (1987). "Ethology and Distribution of Pylochelidae (Crustacea Decapoda Coenobitoidea)". Bulletin of Marine Science. 41 (2): 309–321.
Patsy A. McLaughlin & Rafael Lemaitre (2009). "A new classification for the Pylochelidae (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguroidea) and descriptions of new taxa" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 20: 159–231.
Rafael Lemaitre; Patsy A. McLaughlin & Ulf Sorhannus (2009). "Phylogenetic relationships within the Pylochelidae (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguroidea): A cladistic analysis based on morphological characters" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2022: 1–14. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2022.1.1. S2CID 17193077.
"Family PYLOCHELIDAE Bate, 1888". Australian Faunal Directory. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. September 9, 2009.
Patsy A. McLaughlin; Tomoyuki Komai; Rafael Lemaitre & Dwi Listyo Rahayu (2010). "Annotated checklist of anomuran decapod crustaceans of the world (exclusive of the Kiwaoidea and families Chirostylidae and Galatheidae of the Galatheoidea) Part I – Lithodoidea, Lomisoidea and Paguroidea" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 23: 5–107. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-22.
René H.B. Fraaije; Adiël A. Klompmaker & Pedro Artal (2012). "New species, genera and a family of hermit crabs (Crustacea, Anomura, Paguroidea) from a mid-Cretaceous reef of Navarra, northern Spain". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie. 263 (1): 85–92. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2012/0213.