Munida leagora Macpherson, 1994

McCallum, Anna W., Ahyong, Shane T. & Andreakis, Nikos, 2021, New species of squat lobsters of the genus Munida from Australia, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 80, pp. 113-152 : 145

Munida leagora Macpherson, 1994 .

Figure 19B–D

Munida leagora Macpherson, 1994: 485 , figs 26, 76 (type locality:

New Caledonia). — Baba et al., 2008: 104.

Material examined. Western Australia: NMV J56004 , 1 ovigerous female (cl 13.8 mm, pcl 8.1 mm), 1 male (cl 13.0 mm, pcl 8.0 mm), Leveque L 27, 14° 58.362' S, 121° 38.556' E to 14° 57.762' S, 121° 39.264' E, 228–232 m, SS05/2007/143, 2 July 2007 ; NMV J55999 , 5 males (cl 15.7 mm, pcl 9.5 mm to cl 20.2 mm, pcl 12.3 mm), 1 male with bopyrid (cl 14.9 mm, pcl 8.6 mm), 1 ovigerous female (cl 16.5 mm, pcl 10.2 mm), SS05/2007/143 ; NMV J56018 , 1 juvenile (cl 12.2 mm, pcl 7.5 mm), Mermaid L 24 east transect, 17° 02.838' S, 119° 39.684' E to 17° 03.708' S, 119° 41.358' E, 424–456 m, SS05/2007/77, 18 June 2007 .

Colour. Carapace and abdominal somites 2–4 pale orange, somites 5–6 and telson white. Rostrum and supraocular spines pale orange. P1 and P2–4 meri with orange spots at base of spines and on striae.

Genetic data. COI and 16S; see Table 1.

Remarks. Munida leagora was described from New Caledonia, and the present specimens represent the first records of the species from Australia. Our specimens show some minor variation compared to the type description, including the presence of 1 or 2 small spines on the lateral margins of the anterior ridge of abdominal somite 2, and the presence of parahepatic spines in some specimens. Munida leagora is very similar to Munida alia Baba, 1994 , described from a single specimen in Queensland. We compared our specimens of M. leagora to the holotype of M. alia and confirmed that these species are distinct. In Baba’s (2005) key to Munida , these two species are separated by the length of the distomesial spine of antennal article 1, which reaches the end of article 2 in M. alia and reaches or overreaches the distal end of article 3 in M. leagora . In addition, M. alia lacks a pair of postcervical spines, which are always present in our specimens of M. leagora .

Divergence in COI sequences between specimens of M. leagora from north-western Australia and New Caledonia is <0.5%. The wide transverse yellow and purple bands on the carapace described for New Caledonian specimens are absent in all the specimens examined here.

Distribution. New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Chesterfield Islands, Vanuatu, Bayonnaise Bank, Fiji and Tonga, 240– 610 m. North-west Australia, 232– 456 m.

Figures

Figure 19. A, Munida haswelli Henderson, 1885, male cl 19.55 mm (NMV J55103), pcl 12.81 mm; B–D, Munida leagora Macpherson, 1994, 1 juvenile cl 12.2 mm, pcl 7.5 mm (NMV J56018), undetermined specimen (NMV J55999; NMV J56004). Photos: K. Gowlett-Holmes.