Homolomannia occlusa Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1981

Forges, Bertrand Richer De & Ng, Peter K. L., 2008, New western Pacific records of Homolidae De Haan, 1839, with descriptions of new species of Homolochunia Doflein, 1904, and Latreillopsis Henderson, 1888 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura), Zootaxa 1967, pp. 1-35 : 14-17

Homolomannia occlusa Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1981

Figs. 11A–D, 12A–D

Homolomannia occlusa Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1981: 554 , fig. 3F, 4I, pl. 6, fig. 2, 2a–c. — Guinot & Richer de Forges 1995: 463, fig. 62A–B, 63c. — Tan et al. 2000: 183. — Ng et al. 2001: 6. – Takeda & Manuel-Santos 2007: 88, fig. 9F. — Cleva et al. 2007: 251 , fig. 19C. — Richer de Forges & Ng 2007: 41, fig. 8E, F. — Ng et al. 2008: 40.

Material examined. Solomon Islands: SALOMONBOA, stn. CP 2804, 9°14.16’S 161°19.85’E, 150–175 m, 17 September 2007: 1 male (19.6 x 14.2 mm) ( MNHN-B31290 ) .

Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo I., SANTO 2006, stn. AT 7, 15°38.3’S 167°01.9’E, 180–233 m, 15 September : 1 ovigerous female (15.1 x 11.0 mm) ( ZRC 2008.0985 ) .— Stn. AT 41, 15°36.7’S 167°02.7’E, 88–118 m, 28 September 2006: 1 male (16.9 x 12.7 mm) ( MNHN-B31291 ) .— Stn. AT 45, 15°37.5’S – 167°02.7’E, 118–148 m, 29 September 2006: 1 male (18.5 x 13.6 mm) ( ZRC 2008.0986 ) .— Stn. AT 87, 15°31.2’S 167°16.5’E, 235–271 m, 12 October 2006: 1 ovigerous female (22.0 x 17.0 mm) ( MNHN-B31292 ) . Taiwan: Tungkang fishing port, southern Taiwan: 1 male (18.9 x 13.5 mm) ( ZRC 2001.2275 ) .

Remarks. Homolomannia occlusa is a relatively small-size species. The regions of its carapace are poorly defined, the life colour is bright red and the carapace, including the teeth, is covered by a dense and short tomentum. On the specimens from Vanuatu, the homolid line is not visible and the male cheliped is inflated even on the smallest specimens. The cheliped propodus is also more inflated on the Solomon specimen. In several cases, H. occlusa was collected from the same station as H. sibogae . The bathymetric range for H. occlusa is relatively shallower than that of H. sibogae , 88 to 271 m, although it appears to prefer slopes with steeper gradients (see Richer de Forges & Ng 2007).