Ovimaja compressipes ( Miers, 1879 ) Ng & Forges, 2015

Ng, Peter K. L. & Forges, Bertrand Richer De, 2015, Revision of the spider crab genus Maja Lamarck, 1801 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Majoidea: Majidae), with descriptions of seven new genera and 17 new species from the Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 63, pp. 110-225 : 184-188

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5384590
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:40BCDD62-D35E-46D1-95A3-2CC0DF219DEE
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03A9654B-FFCB-0716-543B-FE5E7CCFFE55
treatment provided by	Valdenar
scientific name	Ovimaja compressipes ( Miers, 1879 )
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

Ovimaja compressipes ( Miers, 1879) View in CoL comb. nov.

( Figs. 2H View Fig , 34C–G View Fig , 35F–L View Fig , 38B, C View Fig , 40O View Fig , 42H View Fig , 46O, P View Fig , 51H, I View Fig , 52L View Fig , 54O, P View Fig , 56L View Fig , 70F View Fig )

Paramithrax (Leptomithrax) compressipes Miers, 1879: 8 View in CoL .

Maja compressipes View in CoL – Griffin & Tranter, 1986: 211, 212, pl. 15a, b. – Chen & Ng, 1995: 758. – Rahayu & Ng, 2000: 888. – Maramura & Kosaka, 2003: 34. – Yang et al., 2008: 780. – Ng et al., 2008: 117 (list).

Leptomithrax compressipes View in CoL – Serène, 1968: 57. – Huang, 1994: 583.

Maja linapacanensis Rathbun, 1916: 553 View in CoL . – Serène, 1968: 57. – Griffin, 1976: 200. – Griffin & Tranter, 1986: 213 (discussion).

Maja gibba – Serène & Lohavanijaya, 1973: 163, pl. 9B. (not Maja gibba Alcock, 1895 ).

Maja brevispinosa Dai, 1981: 37 View in CoL , 38, pl. I: 8–10.

Maja brevispinosis [sic] – Dai et al., 1986: 136, pl. 18(2), figs. 77(1–4). – Dai & Yang, 1991: 151, pl. 18(2), figs. 77(1–4). – Huang, 1994: 582.

Material examined. Holotype male (51.2 × 40.5 mm) ( NHM 1860.15 ), Canton (= Guangzhou), China, coll. Horsfield, East India Company. Others: Philippines – 1 dried carapace (27.0 × 20.0 mm) (with spines, length 31.8, width (right side broken, 19.6 mm) ( USNM 48225 View Materials ) (holotype of Maja linapacanensis Rathbun, 1916 ) [photographs examined], Observatory Island, Linapacan Strait , north of Palawan, 46 fathoms, 11 ° 37.25’N 119°48.75’E, coll. RV Albatross , 18 December 1908. Taiwan – 1 male (49.6 × 39.6 mm) ( ZRC 2008.1318 View Materials ), Penghu Islands , coll. S.-H. Wu, 5 September 1974. — 1 male (55.7 × 42.7 mm) ( ZRC 2013.1264 View Materials ), coll. 1990s. South China Sea – 1 young female (45.6 × 35.4 mm) ( ZRC 1999.1260 View Materials ), southern part of South China Sea , coll. commercial trawlers, 26 November 1982. Thailand – 1 male (41.1 × 30.3 mm) ( ZRC 2003.0162 View Materials ), Pattani Province, Saiburi Crab Landing , Pattani Province, southeastern Thailand , coll. Z. Jaafar et al., 7 June 2003. — 2 males (45.5 × 36.8 mm, 40.3 × 30.4 mm) ( ZRC 2003.0196 View Materials ), Pattani Province, Saiburi Crab Landing , Pattani Province, southeastern Thailand , coll. Z. Jaafar et al., 8 June 2003. GoogleMaps

Diagnosis. Carapace dorsal surface covered with large rounded granules, with groups of long hooked setae on each granule; branchial area rounded, deliminated by deep narrow grooves ( Fig. 34C, F, G View Fig ). Pseudorostral spines short, diverging outwards ( Fig. 38B, C View Fig ). Supraorbital eave large, antorbital spine sharp, covered by hooked setae, with 2 rows of large granules parallel to spines; intercalated spine short, triangular; postorbital spine largest, directed anteriorly; small hepatic spine oriented outwards ( Fig. 38B, C View Fig ). Lateral margin with 5–7 sharp granules; median row with 2 small spines: 1 gastric, 1 cardiac; 1 spine on branchial region; 2 very small spines on posterior carapace margin ( Fig. 34C, F, G View Fig ). Basal antennal article very broad, with 4 large blunt spines, 3 distal and 1 on inner margin, 1 large proximal granule on inner margin ( Figs. 40O View Fig , 42H View Fig ). Pterygostomian area prominently granulated ( Figs. 34D View Fig , 40O View Fig , 42H View Fig ). Ambulatory legs short, with stout, short segments, covered with long hooked setae; merus short ( Fig. 34C, G View Fig , 40O View Fig , 56L View Fig ). G1 long, slender, strongly curved, with 2 distal folds and sharp tip ( Fig. 35F–L View Fig ).

Remarks. Maja compressipes was originally described from Canton (present day Guangzhou) in China. It has since been reported from other parts of China and Japan (e.g., Yang et al., 2008; Maramura & Kosaka, 2003), Philippines ( Rathbun, 1916, as Maja linapacanensis ) and the Straits of Malacca ( Rahayu & Ng, 2000), and we have material from the Gulf of Thailand, South China Sea and Taiwan.

The species is very characteristic in having an elongated and not inflated carapace; the carapace and ambulatory legs are covered by a thick tomentum of long setae which gathers a substantial amount of mud and debris; the basal antennal article is very broad with large tubercles on its distal part; the ambulatory legs are very short and the carpus is very short and cordiform. The photograph of a specimen attributed to “ Maja gibba ” from Indonesia in Serène & Lohavanijaya (1973: 163, pl. IXB) is almost certainly Ovimaja compressipes considering its setose body and very wide ambulatory carpus.

Griffin & Tranter (1986: 213) suggested that Maja linapacanensis Rathbun, 1916 , described only from a broken carapace, is conspecific with M. compressipes , but they did not formally synonymise them. Examination of the types of both species leaves no doubt the two taxa are synonymous.