Abstract
A new genus, Supraguinea gen. nov. Cumberlidge, Mvogo Ndongo, and Fitch, is established to accommodate four species of freshwater crabs from West Africa that were previously included in Liberonautes Bott, 1955 s. l. (Liberonautinae). These are: Supraguinea lugbe (Cumberlidge, 1999) comb. nov., S. constantini (Cumberlidge, Fitch and Clark, 2023) comb. nov., S. rubigimanus (Cumberlidge and Sachs, 1989) comb. nov., and S. nimba (Cumberlidge, 1999) comb. nov. This new genus is defined based on previously-published molecular evidence (Mvogo Ndongo et al., 2024: fig. 8) that indicated the presence of a deep phylogenetic split within Liberonautes s. l., and on a set of distinctly different morphological characters of the carapace, third maxillipeds, and chelipeds. The species included in the new genus are found in Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Guinea, and are here compared with, and distinguished from, other freshwater crabs occurring in this part of West Africa. The removal of these four species from Liberonautes s. l. leaves the latter genus with eight species, L. latidactylus (De Man, 1903), 1989, L. paludicolis Cumberlidge and Sachs, 1989, L. chaperi (A. Milne-Edwards, 1887), and L. grandbassa Cumberlidge, 1999, L. kasonko Mvogo Ndongo, von Rintelen, Clark and Cumberlidge, 2024, L. njala Mvogo Ndongo, von Rintelen, Clark and Cumberlidge, 2024, L. schubarti Mvogo Ndongo, von Rintelen, Clark and Cumberlidge, 2024, and L. sugarloaf Mvogo Ndongo, von Rintelen, Clark and Cumberlidge, 2024, which are all compared with the new genus. Identification keys to the four species of Supraguinea gen. nov. Cumberlidge, Mvogo Ndongo, Fitch and to the six genera now included in the Liberonautinae are provided.