254 Accepted: 25 July 2003; published: 1 August 2003 1 ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Copyright © 2003 Magnolia Press Zootaxa 254: 1-20 (2003) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Description of Durckheimia lochi n. sp., with an annotated check- list of Australian Pinnotheridae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) SHANE T. AHYONG 1 & DIANE E. BROWN Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia. 1 Corresponding author; shanea@aust- mus.gov.au. Abstract A new species of pinnotherid crab, Durckheimia lochi, is described from the Great Barrier Reef, representing the first Australian record of the genus. The new species differs from its congeners chiefly by the combination of a transverse anterior carapace margin, a deep, slit-like, median frontal carapace notch, a cristate, but interrupted longitudinal median carina on the carapace, and in fea- tures of the third maxilliped. Pinnotheropsis yokotai Kubo, 1939, is removed from the synonymy of D. caeca Bürger, 1895, and the generic position of D. besutensis Serène, 1967, is discussed. A key to the species of Durckheimia and an annotated checklist of the known Australian Pinnotheridae are provided. Previous records of Pinnotheres novaezelandiae Filhol, 1885, P. obesus Dana, 1852, and Pinnixia faba (Dana, 1851) from Australia are corrected. Key words: Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Pinnotheridae, Durckheimia lochi, taxonomy, Indo- West Pacific Introduction The genus Durckheimia de Man, 1889, was erected for a new species, D. carinipes from the Red Sea, and was characterised chiefly by the presence of a longitudinal median carina on the carapace and strongly produced, upturned frontal, lateral and posterior margins that obscure the eyes in dorsal view. The most recent summary of the Pinnotheridae (Schmitt et al. 1973) recognised three species of Durckheimia, all from the Indo-West Pacific: D. car- inipes de Man, 1889, D. caeca Bürger, 1895, and D. besutensis Serène, 1967. In the present study, we describe a new species of Durckheimia from Australia, and evaluate the status of Pinnotheropsis yokotai Kubo, 1939, regarded as a synonym of D. caeca by Sakai (1955, 1976). We also evaluate the generic position of D. besutensis Serène, 1967, whose