Naxia Latreille, 1825

Poore, Gary C. B., 2014, A new species of Naxia Latreille, 1825 (Brachyura: Majidae) from deep water off Brazil, Zootaxa 3861 (1) : -

Naxia Latreille, 1825

Remarks. Species of Naxia Latreille, 1825 , are immediately distinguished from most other majids by having the propodi of walking legs ventrally expanded near the distal margin. The carapace is bare or with a few small hairs between groups of strong curled hairs. A prehepatic spine is present. Griffin & Tranter (1986) and Poore (2004) diagnosed the genus and provided keys to the four species known previously.

The possession of laterally flattened and ventrally broadened propodi of pereopods 2–5 (walking legs) in Naxia is paralleled in Trichoplatus huttoni A. Milne-Edwards, 1876 , type species of the monotypic genus Trichoplatus and a member of Inachidae ( Griffin 1966: fig. 8). Richardson (1949: 63), based in part on the subchelate condition of the walking legs, transferred Trichoplatus huttoni to Naxia , a position that was followed by Dell (1960). Griffin (1966) argued against the synonymy of Trichoplatus with Naxia . Griffin & Tranter (1986: 61), however, followed Bennett (1964: 33) and resurrected Trichoplatus after concluding that T. huttoni is not related to Naxia from which it differs in the morphologies of the male first gonopod, orbits, third maxillipeds and male abdomen.

Included species. The genera of the original combination are indicated within brackets. Naxia aries (H. Milne Edwards, 1834) [ Halimus ]; N. aurita (Latreille, 1825) [ Pisa ] (type species by monotypy); N. spinosa (Hess, 1865) [ Halimus ]; N. tumida (Dana, 1851) [ Halimus ]; Naxia atlantica n. sp.

Distribution. The species of Naxia are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere between 24°S and 42°S. Three of the five species only occur in southern Australia, one in southeastern Australia and at Kermadec Island north of New Zealand ( Poore 2004) and the fifth in Brazil. The Australia and New Zealand records are from the low intertidal to about 108 m, where the sea-surface temperature can get as low as 11.5°C. Naxia atlantica n. sp. occurs in southeastern Brazil at depths greater than in Australia and New Zealand, with bottom temperatures ranging from 6°C to 18°C ( Esteves et al. 1988; Stramma 1999).