Rediscovery and range extension of the galapagos 'endemic' Pachycheles velerae (Decapoda: Anomura: Porcellanidae)

Pachycheles velerae, formerly known only from an immature, recently molted female from the Galapagos Islands, is redescribed from additional material from Cocos Island, Costa Rica. This distinctive species is easily recognized by the strongly projecting teeth on the anterior margin of the cheliped carpus, the complex pattern of longitudinal and transverse ridges and granules on the dorsal surface of the cheliped carpus, the projecting, trilobate front, and setose pereiopods. A new morphological feature is described, an enlarged antennal membrane with a basal flap; though not previously reported, this structure appears to be present to varying degrees in other porcelain crabs. With the discovery of P. velerae from Cocos Island, the porcelain crab fauna of the Galapagos Islands loses its only strictly endemic taxon, but strengthens its already significant relationship to the porcellanid fauna of other eastern Pacific oceanic islands.