Oratosquillina inornata ( Tate, 1883 )

Ahyong, Shane T., 2004, New species and new records of stomatopod Crustacea from the Philippines, Zootaxa 793, pp. 1-28 : 19

Oratosquillina inornata ( Tate, 1883)

Squilla inornata Tate, 1883: 51 , pl. 2 [type locality: Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia, Australia].

Oratosquilla hindustanica Manning, 1978b: 15 –17, figs. 7, 15 [type locality: Tuticorin, Madras, Gulf of Manaar, India, 8°47’N, 78°08’E].

Oratosquilla solicitans Manning, 1978b: 25 –28, figs. 13, 14, 15 [type locality: Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia, 5°50’N, 118°07’E].

Oratosquillina inornata . — Manning, 1995: 225, 228. — Ahyong, 2001: 291–293, fig. 141.

Material examined. USNM 304695, 31 males (TL 43–47 mm), 20 females (TL 47–85 mm), Iloilo, H. Kellers, 9 May 1929; USNM 304696, 7 males (TL 65–80 mm), 4 females (TL 66–95 mm), Iloilo, H. Kellers, 25 Mar 1929; USNM 304697, 5 males (TL 69–77 mm), 8 females (TL 50–98 mm), Iloilo, H. Kellers, 24 Apr 1929.

Remarks. Garcia (1981) reported O. inornata from the Philippines under the name O. solicitans , a junior synonym. The specimens agree well with published accounts ( Manning 1978b, Ahyong 2001) except for an 80 mm TL female (USNM 304696) in which the median carina of the carapace is not interrupted at the base of the anterior bifurcation. Similar but inverse variation has also been observed in Oratosquilla fabricii ( Holthuis, 1941) in which the median carina of the carapace may be interrupted at the base of the anterior bifurcation (Ahyong, 2002). The single character distinguishing Oratosquillina Manning, 1995 from Oratosquilla Manning, 1968 is the condition of the median carina of the carapace, whether interrupted or entire at the base of the anterior bifurcation. As remarked by Ahyong (2002), the status of Oratosquillina as distinct from Oratosquilla is questionable.

Distribution. India to Australia, the Indo­Malaysian region, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan.