New deep-sea squat lobsters of the genus Galathea Fabricius, 1793 (Decapoda, Galatheidae) from Vanuatu and New Caledonia

During two cruises to Vanuatu, MUSORSTOM 8 (September-October 1994) and SANTO 2006 (September-October 2006), numerous specimens of deep-sea galatheids belonging to the genus Galathea Fabricius, 1793 were collected. The specimens were caught at stations at depths between 180 and 702 m. These collections contain five new species (G. barbellata n. sp., G. echinata n. sp., G. profunda n. sp., G. raventosae n. sp. and G. sanctae n. sp.), all of which are also found in other collections obtained by French cruises to New Caledonia. Galathea barbellata n. sp., G. echinata n. sp. and G. profunda n. sp. are closely related to G. robusta Baba, 1990, from Madagascar, G. raventosae n. sp. resembles G. consobrina De Man, 1902, from Indonesia, the Philippines, South China Sea and SW Australia, and G. sanctae n. sp. is very close to G. multilineata Balss, 1913, from Japan, East China Sea, Taiwan and the Philippines.