Pachycheles greeleyi (Rathbun, 1900)

Ferreira, Luciane Augusto De Azevedo & Melo, Gustavo Augusto Schmidt De, 2016, Porcelain crabs from Brazil (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Porcellanidae), Zootaxa 4092 (2), pp. 175-194 : 181

Pachycheles greeleyi (Rathbun, 1900)

( Fig. 1 G)

Pisosoma greeleyi Rathbun, 1900: 147 , pl. 8, fig. 4 (type-locality: Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil). Pachycheles greeleyi— Haig, 1956: 9.

Material examined. Brazil: Maranhão—Guimarães, Ponta do Guajuru, 1 male, 2 ovigerous females (MZUSP- 12622). Ceará—Pecém, 1 ovigerous female (MNRJ-18963). Rio Grande do Norte—Baía Formosa, Cabo do Baco- Pari, 2 males (MZUSP-7190). Alagoas—Passo de Camaragibe, 2 males, 2 females (MZUSP-21232); Paripueira, 1 ovigerous female (LabMar-172). Bahia—Abrolhos, Nova Viçosa, Coroa Vermelha, 1 male (MNRJ-6770). Espírito Santo—Ilha do Índio, 1 male (MZUSP-18809). Paraná—Camburi, 6 males, 4 ovigerous females (MZUSP-9866).

Recognition characters. Carapace rounded, slightly broader than long, grained on hepatic region, rugose on posterolateral region; 2 large protogastric lobes separated by shallow mediun sinus; cervical groove well-defined; lateral margin slightly upturned. Front rounded, with submarginal double margin. Chelipeds subequal; merus with transversal ridges, rounded and serrate lobe on flexor margin, 2 or 3 distal teeth on ventroflexor margin; carpus grained, rounded and serrate lobe bearing row of irregular teeth on flexor margin; dactylus with row of tubercles on cutting face; fingers of major cheliped with hiatus; fingers of minor cheliped with serrate margins. Walking legs rugose, pubescent; propodus with 4 spines on flexor margin, dactylus with 3 spines on flexor margin. No gonopods in males. Telson composed of 5 or 7 plates.

Habitat. Intertidal region, under rocks (Veloso & Melo 1993), down to depths of 5 meters (Fausto-Filho 1978).

Geographic distribution. Western Atlantic—Brazil (Pará to Espírito Santo and Paraná).

Variation. The number of plates on the telson has shown considerable variation: many males have 7 plates, although some have only 5 plates; females possess 7 plates, 5 or partially subdivided posterior plates.

Remarks. It is an endemic species, known only from Brazil. Pachycheles greeleyi resembles P. chacei Haig, 1956 and P. serratus (Benedict, 1901) in the entire granulation on the chelipeds and dentition on the flexor margin of the cheliped carpus. However, P. greeleyi has more coarsely granulate carapace and more rugose and pubescent walking legs. Additionally, P. greeleyi has no gonopods in males, whereas P. chacei has one pair of gonopods in males and 5 telson plates. P. serratus presents a pubescent carapace and a pair of gonopods in males (Ferreira & Melo 2010).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Preseved specimens, dorsal view. A, Megalobrachium mortenseni Haig, 1962, ovigerous female (MZUSP- 24529); B, Megalobrachium roseum (Rathbun, 1900), female (MZUSP- 19905); C, Megalobrachium soriatum (Say, 1818), male (MZUSP- 19903); D, Minyocerus angustus (Dana, 1852), ovigerous female (MZUSP- 17473); E, Pachycheles ackleianus A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, male (MZUSP- 19548); F, Pachycheles chubutensis Boschi, 1963, male (MZUSP- 7194); G, Pachycheles greeleyi (Rathbun, 1900), male (MZUSP- 21232); H, Pachycheles laevidactylus Ortmann, 1892, male (MZUSP- 18723). Scales: A – E (1 mm); F – H (5 mm).