Munida heteracantha Ortmann, 1892

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 : 143-145

Munida heteracantha Ortmann, 1892

Munida heteracantha Ortmann, 1892: 255 , pl. 11 fig. 12, 12i, 12k (type locality: Sagami Bay, Japan). — Baba et al., 2008: 99. — Poore et al., 2008: 19. — McEnnulty et al., 2011: app. 1. — Castro, 2011: 16 Munida sp. MoV 5214. — Poore et al., 2008: 21.

Material examined. Western Australia: NMV J55037 , ovigerous female (cl 9.4 mm, pcl 6.35 mm), 1 ovigerous female (cl 9.8 mm, pcl 7.2 mm), 4 females (cl 8.3 mm, pcl 5.3 mm to cl 9.3 mm, pcl 6.6 mm), 4 males (cl 6.9 mm, pcl 4.4 mm to cl 10.5 mm, pcl 6.7 mm), 3 juveniles (cl 6.1 mm, pcl 4.1 mm to cl 6.6 mm, pcl 4.5 mm), Ningaloo South, 22° 04.77' S, 113° 47.76' E to 22° 05.238' S, 113° 47.64' E, 201–206 m, SS10/2005/146, 10 December 2005 ; NMV J55038 , 1 male (cl 10.7, pcl 7.4 mm), 1 female (cl 7.5 mm, pcl 5.0 mm), SS10/2005/146 ; NMV J55040 , 1 male (cl 10.5 mm, pcl 7.0 mm), 1 ovigerous female (cl 9.9 mm, pcl 7.1 mm), 1 female (cl 7.6 mm, pcl 5.2 mm), Ningaloo North, 21° 58.704'S 113° 49.2'E to 21° 59.052'S 113° 49.2'E, 170–177 m, SS10/2005/152, 10 December 2005 .

Genetic data. Not available.

Remarks. Munida heteracantha Ortmann, 1892 has been recorded widely across the western Pacific, including from Queensland, Australia. Our specimens show some variation from the lectotype from Japan described by Macpherson and Baba (1993). The lectotype has a pair of small parahepatic spines, which are absent in all our material. In most of our specimens the distolateral spine of the basal antennular article is slightly longer than the distomesial spine, while in the lectotype the distal spines are subequal. Macpherson and Baba (1993) noted that some specimens of M. heteracantha have 2 small median spines on abdominal somite 3, and half of the specimens here have 1–6 spines. Only three specimens had the P2 attached, and these show the dactyli with 7–8 spines on the flexor margin, compared to only 5 spines in the lectotype.

Munida heteracantha is also similar to Munida macphersoni Cabezas, Lin and Chan, 2011 , but differs in the length of the supraocular spines, which are very short in M. heteracantha (0.34 × rostral length compared to 0.5 in M. macphersoni ).

Distribution. Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia, off Central Queensland, New Caledonia, Fiji, 100– 322 m. South-western Australia, 170– 177 m.