A new species of the squat lobster genus Lauriea Baba, 1971 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) from Korea

A new species of the galatheid squat lobster genus Lauriea Baba, 1971, Lauriea aurea sp. nov ., is described from Korea based on a male specimen collected from an unidentified sponge at a depth of 35 m. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the carpi of the third pereopods bearing six or seven spines along the extensor margin, the dactyli of pereopods 2–4 with a weak but distinct blunt protuberance on the flexor margin, and a live colour pattern characterised by yellow or green spots on the carapace and medial yellow spots on pleonal tergites 1–3. Pairwise uncorrected p -distances between the new species and its seven congeners ranged from 1.61–8.10% for 16S rRNA and 6.95–17.31% for cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, supporting the recognition of L. aurea sp. nov . as a distinct species.