Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

The Paleontological Collections of the University of Bucharest, Romania, house a broad range of specimens of Crustacea including crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and isopods, including several types or illustrated specimens. Some of the material forms the basis for a new species of raninid crab, Lophoranina albeshtensis, from Eocene rocks of the southern Carpathians and a new species of pagurid, Orhomalus spinosus, from the Jurassic of Dobrogea, eastern Romania. The type specimens of Coeloma macoveii Lǎzǎrescu, 1959, from the Miocene of Romania form the basis for a redescription of the species. Eryma spp. are reported from Romania for the first time. Included in the collection are specimens from Romania, other areas of Europe, and North America.

The genus Cyclothyreus Remeš, 1895, is comprised of nine species, four of which are new: Cyclothyreus cardiacus, C. divaricatus, C. quadrophthalmus, and C. strangus. Cyclothyreus is for now placed within the Dynomenidae sensu lato, recognizing that it cannot be accommodated within any of the existing subfamilies, or for that matter, within any existing family within the Dromioidea. All known species of Cyclothyreus are Tithonian in age and are known from localities in central and eastern Europe.

Small concretions and specimens embedded in the matrix have yielded a new Pliocene crustacean fauna from the Kowai Formation near Makikihi, South Canterbury, New Zealand. The fauna is relatively robust, with five identifiable taxa. Three new species are named herein, including the isopod Cirolana makikihi and the decapods Upogebia kowai and Austrohelice manneringi. One new genus and species of decapod, Kowaicarcinus maxwellae, is also named. The fauna documents the second occurrences of fossil isopod and upogebiid from New Zealand. The fauna is indicative of a nearshore setting with some mixing with taxa from shallow, offshore, normal marine settings.

Concretions collected from Motunau and Glenafric Beaches, North Canterbury, New Zealand, have yielded a new genus and species of crab, Tongapapaka motunauensis of the xanthoid family Pseudoziidae and several specimens of the cancrid crab Metacarcinus novaezelandiae (Jacquinot in Jacquinot and Lucas), confirming its range from Miocene to Holocene. These beaches have yielded numerous specimens of decapod crustaceans, the lobsters and crabs, over the decades, and the composition of the decapod fauna suggests an offshore setting for the Greta Siltstone and Mt Brown Formation exposed at Motunau and Glenafric Beaches, respectively.

Tymolus alaskensis new species (Cyclodorippidae) is described from the Bear Lake Formation, a Miocene shallow water deposit from Alaska. The geographical range of the genus is extended to the northern-most margin of the Pacific basin. A large collection of Metacarcinus goederti Schweitzer and Feldmann, 2000 (Cancridae) permits a more complete description than was previously possible. Its occurrence in the Bear Lake Formation suggests a temperate-water depositional environment for the upper Bear Lake Formation.

Discovery of a single specimen of brachyuran decapod from the Campanian Millwood Member in southern Manitoba, Canada, permits description of a new genus and species, Cretacocarcinus smithi. Comparison of sternal architecture and general carapace morphology with potentially related taxa documents that the new genus, along with Camarocarcinus Holland and Cvancara, form a new family, Camarocarcinidae, tentatively assigned to the Raninoidea. The Camarocarcinidae are interpreted to have originated in the upper Midcontinental Seaway in the Late Cretaceous, survived the K-T extinction event(s), and dispersed into southern North Dakota, USA; Greenland; and Denmark in the Paleocene.

Three new species from the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) Ernstbrunn Limestone, Abyssophthalmus schultzi, Planoprosopon hystricosus, and P. rhathamingus, demonstrate the variability and diversity of the Longodromitidae Schweitzer & Feldmann, 2009. More importantly, the speciose nature of genera within the Longodromitidae and other families in Late Jurassic (Tithonian) rocks suggests that niche-partitioning may have been an important evolutionary driver early in the history of the Brachyura.

Evaluation of brachyuran decapod crustaceans exhibiting lineae homolicae from the Tithonian (Upper Jurassic) Ernstbrunn and Stramberk limestones in Austria and the Czech Republic has resulted in a major realignment of taxa within the Jurassic Homoloidea. A new family, Tithonohomolidae, is erected to accommodate Tithonohomola armata Blaschke, 1911, and T. tuberculata nov. spec. as well as a nov. gen., Tenuihomola, which comprises Tenuihomola longa Moericke, 1897, and T. ortwini nov. spec. A new genus and species, Doerflesia ornata, along with two species within the genus Gastrodorus are assigned to the Homolidae. Homolids appear to have evolved in warm, shallow, reefal environments in western and central Europe during the Late Jurassic.

Unpublished material originally identifi ed by J.-M. Remy, as well as evaluation of his type material deposited in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, has resulted in two new genera, Remyranina n. gen. and Planobranchia n. gen.; two new species, Liocarcinus heintzi n. sp. and Szaboa lamarei n. sp., and fi ve new combina-tions, Remyranina ornata n. comb., Calappilia? gorodiskii n. comb., Mursia simplex n. comb., Planobranchia simplex n. comb., and Planobranchia laevis n. comb. ese taxa include the fi rst Oligocene record for the Matutidae, and the extinct genus Szaboa is re-diagnosed. e Remy collection, comprised primarily of fossils from France and equatorial Africa, consists of numerous Calappidae and Carpilioidea, especially abundant today in tropical environments, suggesting that at least for some taxa in these groups, environmental tolerances have changed little since the Eocene.

A compilation of all known species of fossil decapod crustaceans arrayed in a modern classification based upon the work of numerous students of extant and fossil decapods represents the first such attempt in nearly 100 years. The systematic list cites authors and carefully verified dates of authorship as well as a complete list of references to all taxa cited. The work is intended to provide insight into the range and relative numbers of fossil taxa within the suborder Decapoda. The compilation will permit interpretation of the nature of completeness of the fossil record and will provide a platform for future research on this important, diverse group of organisms.