92 Accepted by S. Ahyong: 1 Nov. 2013; published: 18 Nov. 2013 ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Copyright © 2013 Magnolia Press Zootaxa 3737 (1): 092–096 www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3737.1.8 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:74259389-ECB8-4787-8954-3D9CFF3783B5 Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992 (Decapoda, Anomura, Munidopsidae), a newly recorded squat lobster from a cold seep in Taiwan CHIA-WEI LIN 1,2 , SHINJI TSUCHIDA 3 , SAULWOOD LIN 4 , CHRISTIAN BERNDT 5 & TIN-YAM CHAN 6* 1 Institute of Marine Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Dong Hwa University. Hualien 97401, Taiwan, R.O.C. 2 Department of Exhibition, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, 944, Taiwan, R.O.C. 3 Japan Agency of Marine Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan. 4 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan, R.O.C. 5 GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, 24248 Kiel, Germany. 6 Institute of Marine Biology and Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan, R.O.C. E-mail: tychan@mail.ntou.edu.tw *Corresponding author. Abstract The squat lobster, Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992, is recorded from Taiwan for the first time. This species was previously known only from deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the South-West Pacific but it was now found at a deep-sea cold seep site off southwestern Taiwan. The identity of the Taiwanese material is confirmed by comparison of sequences from the barcoding gene COI. Munidopsis lauensis can be easily separated from other congeners in Taiwanese waters by the eyes bearing a strong mesiodorsal spine and a small mesioventral spine, smooth carapace, fingers of the cheliped distally spooned and fixed finger without a denticulate carina on the distolateral margin. The discovery of this species in Taiwan increases the Munidopsis fauna of the island to 38 species. A color photograph and line drawings illustrating distinctive characters are provided for the Taiwanese material. Key words: Munidopsis lauensis, Taiwan, cold seep Introduction Squat lobsters of the genus Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1874 are very diverse (with over 200 species known to date, Baba et al. 2008). They are often considered as “classical” deep-sea animals, with 21 species reported from hydrothermal vents or cold seeps (Williams 1988; Williams & Baba 1989; Baba & de Saint Laurent 1992; Baba 1995, 2005; Macpherson & Segonzac 2005; Martin & Haney 2005; Cubelio et al. 2007a–c). Taiwan has a rich Munidopsis fauna with 37 species recorded (Baba et al. 2008; Lin & Chan 2011; Osawa et al. 2013). A recent survey in a cold seep site off southwestern Taiwan at about 1100 m deep collected several specimens of a Munidopsis species previously unknown from Taiwan. Careful examination revealed that the newly collected Taiwanese material is Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992, which was previously known only from hydrothermal vents in the South-West Pacific. The identity of the Taiwanese material was also confirmed by DNA barcoding. The present work reports this finding. With the addition of M. lauensis, 38 species of Munidopsis are now reported from Taiwan, which is the most speciose country for Munidopsis in the world (Osawa et al. 2013). The specimens examined are deposited at the National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) and Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (MNHN). The measurement (CL) refers to the carapace length excluding rostrum. Taxonomic account Family Munidopsidae Ortmann, 1898 Genus Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1874