Peak diversity of Cretaceous galatheoids (Crustacea, Decapoda) from northern Spain

Galatheoids, squat lobsters, have recently received much systematic attention. We describe, discuss, and illustrate ten species of galatheoids found in the mid-Cretaceous (Albian/Cenomanian) Aldoirar patch reef in northern Spain. All are found in the abandoned Koskobilo quarry. The new taxa include two new genera, Hispanigalathea gen. nov. and Nykteripteryx gen. nov., and four new species: Hispanigalathea pseudolaevis sp. nov., H. tuberosa sp. nov., Nykteripteryx rostrata sp. nov., and Eomunidopsis aldoirarensis sp. nov. We redescribe E. navarrensis, E. orobensis, Paragalathea ruizi, P. straeleni, and P. multisquamata. Finally, an indeterminate galatheoid is also recognized. To date, this is by far the richest galatheoid fauna known in terms of the number of species and genera from the Cretaceous, both on the locality and formation level. This diversity is probably related to the reef facies in which the galatheoids were discovered. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.