Publisher's Synopsis
Among chirostylid squat lobsters of the anomuran Crustacea, the genus Uroptychus is most speciose. The majority of species are common in deep waters, usually found associated with soft corals and black corals, but rarely with sea pens and crinoids. This volume deals with a huge amount of material assembled by numerous French cruises to the Western and Central Pacific. One hundred fifty species are reported from this region, including 106 new species, six of which are placed in a new genus Heteroptychus. More than fifty percent of Indo-West Pacific species are now shown to occur in New Caledonia and the vicinity, demonstrating high species richness in this region.