Laubierinia carinata (Griffin and Tranter, 1986)

Islam, Atikul, Banerjee, Abhishek, Wati, Sisca Meida, Banerjee, Sumita, Shrivastava, Deepti & Srivastava, Kumar Chandan, 2022, Crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Sea off East and Southeast Asia Collected by the RV Hakuhō Maru (KH- 72 - 1 Cruise) 2. Timor Sea, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 48 (1), pp. 5-24 : 16-17

Laubierinia carinata (Griffin and Tranter, 1986)

( Fig. 6A–B)

Material examined. RV Hakuhō Maru KH-72-1 cruise, sta. 28 (Timor Sea; 09°34.4′S, 128°06.0′E – 09°33.5′S, 128°03.4′E, 295–296 m depth); 3 m beam trawl; June 24, 1972; 2 88 (NSMT-Cr 29265: CB 11.1 mm excluding bran- chial plate, CL 17.2 mm excluding pseudorostral spine; CB 9.7 mm, CL 15.2 mm).

Remarks. This species, originally described in the genus Rochinia A. Milne-Edwards, 1875 , was transferred to the genus Laubierinia established by Richer de Forges and Ng (2009), as the type species. The other congeners are L. globu- lifera (Wood-Mason, in Wood-Mason and Alcock, 1891) and L. nodosa ( Rathbun, 1916) .

Laubierinia carinata is characteristic in hav- ing seven large circular islets on the hepatic, mesogastric, cardiac, epibranchial and intestinal regions; the epibranchial islets are replaced by large nodular projections in L. nodosa , and strong spines in L. globulifera .

Two females agree well with the description by Griffin and Tranter (1986a, as Rochinia ) and the figures and photographs by Richer de Forges and Poore (2008, as Rochinia ) and Richer de Forges and Ng (2009). However, it should be noted that there is possibly sexual difference in the development of the intestinal islet; the intesti- nal region is slightly protuberant, with a distinct tubercle apically in a full-grown male from the Solomon Islands ( Richer de Forges and Ng, 2009, fig. 9A–B) and probably in the holotype ( Griffin and Tranter, 1986a, pl. 12), whereas it is replaced by a large circular islet in the females examined ( Fig. 6A–B).

Distribution. Western Australia, Timor Sea, Kai Islands , Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and Norfolk Ridge sea- mounts, 173–411 m depth.