A pinnotheroid pea crab (Decapoda, Brachyura, Pinnotheridae), from the early Pliocene of Cassine (Alessandria, Piemonte, NW Italy)

Abstract

A pinnotheroid pea crab (Pinnotheridae De Haan, 1833), is here reported from the Zanclean (early Pliocene) clays of a quarry located S-SW of Cassine (Alessandria, Piemonte, NW Italy). Though the studied specimen cannot be assigned to any genus within the Pinnotherinae (Pinnotheridae De Haan, 1833), it is the first record from the Pliocene of Italy and paleo-Adriatic Gulf, increasing the knowledge of the presence and fossil distribution of this family in the Mediterranean area.