A new species of spider crab has been named more than 50 years after the first specimen was lodged at the Western Australian Museum.
The crab was named Paranaxia keesingi, after Dr John Keesin from the CSIRO, for his contribution and commitment to WA biodiversity.
WA Museum curator of crustacea and worms Andrew Hosie said identifying new species could be incredibly slow and painstaking work, requiring great patience and attention to detail.
"If there is only one or a few specimens, or they are damaged, juvenile, only females, or only males - then naming and describing them may be postponed until there are enough specimens of suitable quality to provide a full description of the species," he said.
Specimen of the long-legged spider crab were collected during recent dredging surveys in WA's North West and were found to look different to the one existing species in the genus, Paranaxia serpulifera.
It became apparent the specimen belonged to a new species after being compared to 32 samples in the WA Museum and Queensland Musuem collections, and being genetically tested.
The crab can be found in WA as far south as the Houtman Abrolhos Islands and north into Indonesian waters off New Guinea, as well as in northern Queensland, and has been recorded at depths of up to 175 metres.
The earliest sample of the Paranaxia keesingi was collected in 1963 by Fremantle-based fishermen W & W Poole.
