First Record of Chelarctus virgosus Yang and Chan, 2012 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Scyllaridae) from the Oshika Peninsula, Northeastern Japan: 300 km Northward Range Extension of Slipper Lobsters

Abstract

A slipper lobster species Chelarctus virgosus recently separated from C. cultrifer (Ortmann 1897) by Yang and Chan (2012) was caught by a baited trap at a depth of 30 m, from off Onagawa, Oshika Peninsula (southern end of the Sanriku Coast), northeastern Japan. This record verified the distribution of C. virgosus in Japan. Also, this is the first record of scyllarid lobsters from the coastal waters of the Kuroshio-Oyashio Mixing Zone, updating the northern limit of distribution by more than 300 km. In addition, possible Japanese records tentatively listed in the original description of C. virgosus are revisited, and the distribution on the Pacific coast at the Boso Peninsula to the Ryukyu Archipelago was confirmed.