A new hermit crab of the genus Calcinus Dana, 1851 is described from a specimen collected at a depth of 100 m near Rapa Island, Austral Islands, French Polynesia. In a previous report, we had reported this specimen provisionally as Calcinus aff. sirius, pending availability of live color data for Calcinus sirius Morgan, 1991. Recently obtained color photographs of live C. sirius from the Solitary Islands, Eastern Australia, has shown that the specimen from Rapa Island is distinct from Morgan’s taxon and represents a new species which is fully illustrated and described herein as Calcinus shawi sp. nov. The morphology and coloration of this new species are compared with the closely allied C. sirius and Calcinus dapsiles Morgan, 1989