Jose Luis Villalobos

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México | UNAM · Department of Zoology

Two new genera from the Chimalapas region in eastern Oaxaca, and from Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico are presented. Mokayathelphusa angelsotoi n. gen., n. sp., which is described from Oaxaca, is placed in the subfamily Pseudothelphusinae due to the presence of a caudomarginal projection that ends apically in an ornamented plate. Alvarezius n. gen. is...

The freshwater crab genus Tehuana Rodríguez & Smalley in Smalley, 1970 includes eight species distributed in southeastern Mexico. A recent review of organisms belonging to this genus uncovered new variations in the male gonopod morphology. A phylogenetic analysis based on molecular characters using three genes (H3, 16S, and COI) resulted in the ide...

Se presenta un listado de especies acuáticas de 6 phyla (Platyhelminthes, Acanthocephala, Nematoda, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Chordata) muestreadas en la cuenca del río Lacantún, en la región conocida como “Selva Lacandona”, Chiapas, México. El listado representa 10 años de monitoreo (2010-2020) realizado en 13 estaciones permanentes ubicadas en una se...

Land crabs of the genus Gecarcinus are distributed along both versants of the American continent. At some point four species were recognized: G. lateralis, G. nobilii, G. quadratus, and G. ruricola. Taxonomically, several authors have tried to differentiate Gecarcinus lateralis from the Atlantic coast and G. quadratus from the Pacific coast. Becaus...

The freshwater shrimp genus Cryphiops Dana, 1852 has a disjunct distribution in North (Mexico) and South (Brazil, Chile) America, and is composed of only six species. The current classification of genera in the Palaemonidae is controversial, based on variable morphological characters, and still far from a clear definition. Cryphiops differs from th...

A new species of crayfish is described from the Cave of Sótano de La Lucha, in the border between the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. The new species is completely adapted to the cave environment with reduced eyes lacking cornea and visual pigments, an almost unpigmented body and elongated appendages. We also report on crayfish populations fr...

A new classification for the freshwater crabs of the Americas, the superfamily Pseudothelphusoidea¸ is presented based on a multigene phylogeny complemented by morphological analyses. We propose that the superfamily Pseudothelphusoidea be composed of two families, the Epiloboceridae and the Pseudothelphusidae, with the subsequent reorganization of...

Although the larval development of epigean palaemonid shrimps has been studied extensively, only a few investigations deal with stygobitic species. We present the larval development of the cave-adapted Creaseria morleyi (Creaser, 1936) from anchialine caves in the Tulum area, Quintana Roo, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Through the discovery of a serie...

This is the first report of Charybdis (Charybdis) hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867) on the Mexican coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Six specimens were collected with crab traps in Sisal, Yucatan, and one in Bahamita on the marine coast of the Laguna de Términos in Campeche, Mexico, with a seabob trawl net. Further sampling and monitoring are required t...

We review the crustacean diversity found in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB), integrating published and collection records. A total of 45 species was found representing 4 classes, 18 families, and 32 genera; Copepoda with 26 species is the most diverse group. Of the total diversity, seven species are endemic to the CCB: three copepods, two amphipods...

A new stygobitic isopod from the anchialine systems of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, is described, bringing the total number of anchialine isopods to seven. Curassanthura yucatanensis sp. nov. of the family Leptanthuridae is the first species of the genus to be recorded from a continental site. It can be distinguished from the other known species...

Lobithelphusa Rodriguez, 1982 is endemic to southern Mexico. Assigned to this monotypic genus is the freshwater pseudothelphusid crab, L. mexicana Rodriguez, 1982. The original description based on an old, dry, male specimen in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, is brief and the crab was only partially figured. Lobithelphusa mex...

A new species of freshwater crab of the family Trichodactylidae, genus Rodriguezia Bott, 1969 is described from Grutas de Agua Blanca in southern Tabasco, Mexico. Rodriguezia is a genus endemic to northern Chiapas and southern Tabasco, distributed over a small area of 70 km. Rodriguezia adani n. sp., the third species of the genus, occurs north of...

A new species of mud shrimp of the genus Naushonia Kingsley, 1897 is described from two anchialine caves on the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas. Naushonia tinkeri n. sp. is the fifteenth species in the genus and the second to be described from the Bahamas. The new species is morphologically similar to N. augudrea (Juarrero & García, 1997) from...

Three new species of freshwater crabs of the genus Pseudothelphusa (De Saussure, 1857) from south-central Mexico are described: Pseudothelphusa acahuizotla n. sp., P. ixtapan n. sp., and P. purhepecha n. sp. The new species are included in Pseudothelphusa due to a male gonopod with torsion and the presence of the characteristic mesial process and c...

El 3 de septiembre del 2009 arribó a la región de Guaymas, Sonora, la tormenta tropical Jimena, que permaneció estacionaria durante 36 h continuas, arrojando 720 mm de precipitación rebasando el promedio anual estatal. A causa de la lluvia, se formaron arroyos temporales que ocuparon los cauces originales, provenientes de la sierra El Aguaje, atray...

The diversity, distribution, and conservation status of the 172 species of freshwater decapod crustaceans of Mexico is presented. These freshwater crustaceans are classified in eight families: Atyidae, Palaemonidae, Alpheidae, Cambaridae, Parastacidae, Pseudothelphusidae, Trichodactylidae, and Glyptograpsidae. The Mexican fauna is composed of Neotr...

We present the first global assessment of extinction risk for a major group of freshwater invertebrates, caridean shrimps. The risk of extinction for all 763 species was assessed using the IUCN Red List criteria that include geographic ranges, habitats, ecology and past and present threats. The Indo-Malayan region holds over half of global species...

New records for 17 species of crustaceans from anchialine systems in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, are presented. The records come from explorations in Dzilam de Bravo, Yucatan, and from Puerto Aventuras and the Nohoch Nah Chich and Ox Bel Ha cave systems near Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico. For five of the 17 species dealt with here, the records p...

The freshwater crabs of the Neotropics comprise 311 species in two families (Pseudothelphusidae and Trichodactylidae) and one or both of these families are found in all of the countries in the Neotropical region (except for Chile and some of the Caribbean islands). Colombia (102 species, 81% endemic) and Mexico (67 species, 95% endemic) are the bio...

The Australian crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus ���������������������������(von Martens, 1868) �������was introduced to Mexico during the 1990’s for aquaculture purposes. Escapes occurred from different places where it was cultured originating wild populations that have now become successfully established. The Australian redclaw crayfish has been ca...

The freshwater genus Palaemon is widely distributed in north-eastern Mexico, where six species have been recognized. Of special interest is the area of the Cuatro Cienegas Valley (CCV) and the Salado and Bravo Rivers basins in central and northern Coahuila, where interconnections, ancient and contemporary, have created a mosaic of populations of sp...

El estudio de los crustáceos en México ha tenido una historia de registros larga y discontinua. Los primeros se realizaron principalmente por carcinólogos extranjeros desde mediados del siglo XIX, mientras que los investigadores mexicanos impulsaron el conocimiento desde el primer tercio del siglo XX. México cuenta con condiciones topográficas y oc...

Six morphological species of the genus Macrobrachium occur in the Baja California Peninsula (M. americanum, M. digueti, M. hobbsi, M. michoacanus, M. olfersii, and M. tenellum). Their presence is an interesting topic for the systematics of the group, given that their distribution shows a distinct disjunct on the coastal plains of the northern part...

A new species of the alpheid shrimp genus Triacanthoneus Anker, 2010, is described based on material collected in a marine cave off Caye Chapel, Belize. Triacanthoneus chapelianus sp. nov. is the fifth species in the genus and can be distinguished from the other four species by the position of the dorsolateral teeth on the carapace, which in the ne...

The Australian crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus (von Martens, 1868) was introduced to Mexico during the 1990’s for aquaculture purposes. Escapes occurred from different places where it was cultured originating wild populations that have now become successfully established. The Australian redclaw crayfish has been captured in the wild in the states o...

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of 16 species of the freshwater prawn genus Macrobrachium from Mexico are presented. The phylogenetic reconstructions are based on partial sequences from16S rDNA mitochondrial gene. The results show a clear separation of the species with extended larval development (ED) from those with abbreviated larval development...

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of 16 species of the freshwater prawn genus Macrobrachium from Mexico are presented. The phylogenetic reconstructions are based on partial sequences from16S rDNA mitochondrial gene. The results show a clear separation of the species with extended larval development (ED) from those with abbreviated larval development...

Resumen. Se presenta una breve sinopsis sobre las características de los crustáceos decápodos y sobre las propuestas recientes de su clasificación. Sobre la base de una compilación exhaustiva de los registros de crustáceos decápodos en México, se estableció un listado de estas especies para las regiones continental, del Caribe, del golfo de México...

Two new genera, Sylvathelphusa n. gen. and Tzotzilthelphusa n. gen., and three new species, Sylvathelphusa kalebi n. sp., S. cavernicola n. sp. and Tzotzilthelphusa villarosalensis n. sp., of the tribe Potamocarcinini, family Pseudothelphusidae, are described from Chiapas, Mexico. Sylvathelphusa n. gen. is characterized by a male gonopod with the m...

After Rodríguez (1986) hypothesis on the possible biogeographic exclusion between crayfish of the family Cambaridae and freshwater crabs of the family Pseudothelphusidae throughout central and southern Mexico, several studies have considered it as a real pattern. However, the distribution patterns of both groups have not been examined, nor in what...

A new species of freshwater crab of the family Pseudothelphusidae from Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico, is described. Only one previous report exists of a pseudothelphusid crab from the Zongolica region in central Veracruz, but that one belongs to a different tribe. The new species is placed in the genus Pseudothelphusa due to the evident torsion of th...

A new species of Triacanthoneus Anker, 2010 is described from an anchialine cave near Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Triacanthoneus akumalensis sp. nov., is the fourth species in the genus and can be distinguished from the previously de-scribed species by the position of the sharp lateral teeth on the carapace, the length and shape of the rostrum, t...

The Mexican pseudothelphusid crabs are classified in one subfamily, three tribes, and 13 genera. Up to now, 56 species have been recognized, distributed in a strictly Neotropical pattern, with some of them reaching the state of Sonora on the western slope of Mexico. The tribe Pseudothelphusini is the most diverse, with five genera and 35 species, a...

The rocky intertidal zone is the habitat of a number of species due to its spatial heterogeneity. In this study the crustacean species richness at Montepio is presented based on samples obtained monthly from February 1996 to February 1997, and bimonthly from July 2004 to July 2005, and deposited in the National Crustacean Collection, Instituto de B...

Thirteen localities were studied in the Copalita, Zimatán, and Coyula basins, Oaxaca. More than 3 200 decapod crustaceans were captured representing 3 families, 4 genera, and 13 species, including 3 possible new species of Atya and Pseudothelphusa. Abundance, frequency and within basin distribution of species were analyzed. Collecting localities we...

Thirteen localities were studied in the Copalita, Zimatán, and Coyula basins, Oaxaca. More than 3 200 decapod crustaceans were captured representing 3 families, 4 genera, and 13 species, including 3 possible new species of Atya and Pseudothelphusa. Abundance, frequency and within basin distribution of species were analyzed. Collecting localities we...

The rocky intertidal zone is the habitat of a number of species due to its spatial heterogeneity. In this study the crustacean species richness at Montepio is presented based on samples obtained monthly from February 1996 to February 1997, and bimonthly from July 2004 to July 2005, and deposited in the National Crustacean Collection, Instituto de B...

A new species of Espeleonaushonia is described from a single specimen collected in an underwater cave in Babeldaob Island, Republic of Palau. The new species is placed in Espeleonaushonia based on the following characters: exopod of third maxilliped well developed, propodus of first pereopod with spines on dorsal surface and along mesial and latera...

A new species of Espeleonaushonia is described from a single specimen collected in an underwater cave in Babeldaob Island, Republic of Palau. The new species is placed in Espeleonaushonia based on the following characters: exopod of third maxilliped well developed, propodus of first pereopod with spines on dorsal surface and along mesial and latera...

A new species of freshwater crab of the genus Odontothelphusa is described. The specimens were collected from one tributary of the Malpaso Dam in northwestern Chiapas state, extending the geographical distribution of the genus to southwestern Mexico. The new species differs from its congeners by the presence of a basal rounded tubercle and a small...

A new species of crayfish, Procambarus (Austrocambarus) maya, is described from a salt marsh in the Sian Ka'an Nature Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The new species is most similar morphologically to Procambarus (A.) llamasi Villalobos, 1954, from which it can be distinguished by the absence of pubescence on the chelae; a gonopod with a large, mesi...

Two new species of freshwater crabs of the genus Tehuana from the states of Tabasco and Oaxaca, Mexico, are described, and a new diagnosis for the genus is presented. Tehuana chontalpaensis, new species, was collected in a mountain river in southwest Tabasco at 900 m above sea level; it is distinguished by a first gonopod with an elongated mesial p...

A new species of stygobitic cirolanid, Speocirolana xilitla n. sp., is described from Cueva de las Catarinas, in the environs of the town of Xilitla, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The new species represents the thirteenth species in the genus, extending its range 80 km to the south. The new species is characterized by an antenna composed of 51 articles,...

Specimens collected from trawls on board UNAM's R/V Justo Sierra along 4 years has allowed us to describe the community structure of megacrustaceans collected on the continental margin (45 to 156 m) and upper slope (251 to 705m) in the Mexican Ridges and the Campeche Bank of the southern Gulf of Mexico. The species composition, species richness, de...

The genus Callinectes encompasses 16 species of commercially important swimming crabs. Most (13) occur on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the Americas. We compare mtDNA regions corresponding to 964basepairs of the large (16S) and small (12S) ribosomal subunits among American Callinectes in order to examine phylogenetic relationships. The status...

A new family of stenopodidean shrimp, Macromaxillocarididae, is described from an anchialine cave in Great Guana Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas. Macromaxillocaris bahamaensis new genus, new species, is the sole representative of the family. The new taxon clearly belongs to the infraorder Stenopodidea. However, the presence of a massive third maxilliped,...

Aim To test whether distributional patterns of Neotropical freshwater taxa fit the generalized tracks already postulated for terrestrial groups occurring in the Mexican Transition Zone. Location The study units comprised 17 hydrological basins located along the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to Panama, and in the Gulf of Mexico from the...

ABSTRACT Three new species of the genus Typhlatya from anchialine caves in Mexico (T. dzilamensis), the Bahamas (T. kakuki), and Honduras (T. utilaensis) are described. Typhlatya dzilamensis is the fourth species to be described from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and is morphologically similar to T. mitchelli. Typhlatya kakuki is the first species...

Porcellanid crabs are distributed in tropical and subtropical coastal regions. They are part of the littoral and subllitoral fringes, dwelling on algae and corals, inside sponges and in a great variety of rocky shore environments. The material reported here comes from the Eastern Tropical Pacific coast of Mexico, and is deposited in the Colección N...

The new bresilioid shrimp Agostocaris acklinsensis is described from an anchialine cave in Acklins Island, Bahamas. This is the third species described in the genus. The new species is characterized by having small exopods on the third and fourth pereiopods, one spine on the ischium of the fifth pereiopod, and an outer ramus of the uropods with one...

Thirty-one species belonging to seven families of caridean shrimps were recorded at depths from 100-350 m at Banco Chinchorro and adjacent areas in the northern Caribbean. Samples were collected with the aid of the R/V EDWIN LINK and the JOHNSON SEA LINK I manned submersible from algal debris, coral fragments, and sediment. The most diversified fam...

Two new species of freshwater crabs of the genus Tehuana from the states of Tabasco and Oaxaca, Mexico, are described, and a new diagnosis for the genus is presented. Tehuana chontalpaensis, new species, was collected in a mountain river in southwest Tabasco at 900 m above sea level; it is distinguished by a first gonopod with an elongated mesial p...

The abbreviated larval development of the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium tuxtlaense is described. The first stage of M. tuxtlaense is similar to those of other Mexican and South American species of Macrobrachium such as M. vicconi, M. reyesi, and M. nattereri, sharing uniramous pereiopods, biramous pleopods, and a rounded telson. Newly hatched M....

The systematics and spatio-temporal distribution of 6525 specimens of non-brachyuran decapods, collected in the islands of the Gulf of California were analyzed. Samples were collected between May 1985 and May 1987, in the intertidal zone of 23 island. The 82 species recognized belong to the superfamily Penaeoidea and to the infraorders Caridea, Pal...

The morphological variation exhibited by populations of Cambarellus (Cambarellus) montezumae in central and western Mexico is analyzed using somatic and genitalic characters. Five populations (Tequisquiapan, Queretaro; Chapultepec and Xochimilco, DF; Atlangatepec Dam, Tlaxcala; and Aljojuca Crater Lake, Puebla) were analyzed through seven morpholog...

Procambarus (Austrocambarus) catemacoensis, a new species of crayfish, is described from Lake Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. The new species is morphologically similar to P. (A.) acanthophorus Villalobos, 1948, from which it can be distinguished by having two or three spines on the anterior border of the carapace, an obliterated areola, smaller and se...

A new species of the rare laomediid genus Naushonia, N. manningi, is described from a cave in Acklins Island. Bahamas. Naushonia manningi represents the seventh species of the genus and the first one to come from a cave. A key to the species of Naushonia is presented.

Macrobrachium tuxtlaense, a new epigean species of freshwater prawn with abbreviated development from Los Tuxtlas region in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, is described. The new species is most similar to the cave-dwelling M. acherontium Holthuis and M. villalobosi Hobbs, the two previously known species from Mexico with abbreviated development.

Procambarus (Austrocambarus) citlaltepetl, new species, is described from Ciudad Mendoza, Veracruz, Mexico. The new species can be placed in the mexicanus Group, and is most similar to P. (A.) mexicanus, from which it can be distinguished by the absence of branchiostegal spines, gonopod with blade-like mesial process curved over the apex and thicke...

The first formal report of Tertiary portunid crabs for Mexico is based on two new species, Portunus atecuicitli and Necronectes tajinensis, from the middle Miocene beds of the Tuxpan Formation in Veracruz, east-central Mexico. Associated crustacean remains include fragments of calappid fingers, calappid carapace fragments possibly assignable to Mat...

A new genus of cavernicolous fresh-water palaemonid shrimp, Troglomexicanus, and two new species, T. tamaulipasensis and T. huastecae, are described from El Abra limestone caves in the states of San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas, northeastern Mexico. Troglomexicanus includes T. perezfarfantae, formerly in the genus Troglocubanus distributed also in El...

Los rizocéfalos engloban cerca de 200 especies, de las cuales todas son parásitas, singularmente especializadas, de otros crustáceos. Sus hospederos son decápodos o excepcionalmente isópodos, cumáceos, estomatópodos o percebes balanomorfos. Al parecer los rizocéfalos se encuentran en todos los ambientes marinos que habitan sus hospederos, incluyend...

Six new species of fresh-water crabs of the family Pseudothelphusidae from Chiapas, Mexico, are described. Two of the new species belong to the genus Phrygiopilus, which is reported from Mexico for the first time; 1 new species of Potamocarcinus is recognized; and 3 new species are placed in the genus Odontothelphusa. With the description of these...

Pseiidothelphiisa ayutlaensis, new species, is described from the State of Guerrero, Mexico. The new species is placed in the genus Pseiidothelphiisa based on the presence of a first gonopod with the characteristic broadly rounded mesial process and a well developed subtriangular lateral process. The unique orientation of the mesial and lateral pro...

Four species of shallow water caridean shrimp new to the Mexican fauna are reported. The specimens were collected along the coast of the state of Nayarit and at Isla Isabel, Mexico. Prionalpheus nayaritae, new species, represents the first occurrence of this rare genus in the eastern Pacific. The new species can be recognized by the presence of asy...

A new species of dorippid crab, Sodakus mexicanus n. sp., is described and one species each of callianassid, pagurid, and calappid crustaceans are reported from the Maastrichtian lower siltstone member of the Potrerillos Formation. A paleoenvironmental interpretation of shallow facies within a deltaic system may explain the presence of one of the m...

A new species of Nebalia is described from Ria Lagartos in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, increasing the number of described species in this genus to 13. The species closely resembles a complex of species recognized for the tropical western Atlantic that will need further study. The importance of the shape of the denticles on the dorsal pleonal seg...

Two new species of freshwater crabs of the genus Tehuana from the states of Tabasco and Oaxaca, Mexico, are described, and a new diagnosis for the genus is presented. Tehuana chontalpaensis, new species, was collected in a mountain river in southwest Tabasco at 900 m above sea level; it is distinguished by a first gonopod with an elongated mesial p...

Some 24 families, 87 genera, and 152 species have been recognized. With 75 species, the infraorder Brachyura was the best represented, followed by the Anomura (41 species) and the Caridea (31 species). The families with the highest number of species were the Porcellanidae (29), Xanthidae (28), Majidae (26), and Alpheidae (21). The zoogeographical a...

Odontothelphusa toninae is described from the State of Chiapas. This is the third species of the genus Odontothelphusa, extending its range to the south and east. Stygothelphusa lopezformenti, a new genus and species,