Abstract
A new species of the hermit crab genus Paguristes Dana, 1851 (Diogenidae), P. luculentus, is described and illustrated on the basis of three male specimens collected from off the Kerala State, southwestern India. It belongs to the species group characterized by the posterior lobes of the telson unarmed on the terminal margins, but the characteristic armature of the chelae and carpi of the chelipeds, consisting of a covering of numerous small corneous-tipped spines, and the presence of numerous small corneous-tipped or corneous spines on the mesial faces of the dactyli of the second pereopods immediately distinguish the new species from other congeneric species. The new species represents the ninth of the genus known from Indian waters.