| Abstract |
Oligocene and Miocene fossil decapods from Puerto Rico and Cuba have been poorly known; new collections from these regions as well as from
the Dominican Republic have now yielded several new reports. One new genus, Psygmophthalmus, and several new species (Neocallichirus
aetodes, Neocallichirus? quisquellanus, Calappa pavimenta, Necronectes collinsi, Portunus yaucoensis, and Psygmophthalmus lares) are named
herein. New combinations include Euphylax domingensis (Rathbun 1919), Megokkos feldmanni (Nyborg et al. 2003), and Neocallichirus vaugh-
ni (Rathbun 1918). Specimens of a callianassoid and brachyuran indeterminate at the family, genus, and species level are also described and
illustrated, and emended descriptions are provided for Euphylax domingensisand Megokkos feldmanni. Scylla costataRathbun, 1919, and three
indeterminate species of Portunus are also reported. CeronnectesDe Angeli and Beschin, 1998, is a member of the Cancridae, not the Portunidae
as originally reported. Most of the Caribbean taxa reported herein belong to tropical or subtropical extant genera that inhabit both carbonate and
siliciclastic, soft, shallow marine substrates, supported by the occurrence of most of the fossils in clastic units. The Cenozoic genera reported
herein exhibited either a Tethyan or North Pacific distribution, typical of Eocene and Oligocene decapods of the region. The open Caribbean
Seaway facilitated dispersal of fauna throughout the region between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. |
