Trapezia speciosa Dana, 1852

PETER CASTRO, PETER K. L. NG & SHANE T. AHYONG, 2004, Phylogeny and systematics of the Trapeziidae Miers, 1886 (Crustacea: Brachyura), with the description of a new family, Zootaxa 643, pp. 1-70 : 53-54

Trapezia speciosa Dana, 1852

Trapezia speciosa Dana, 1852: 83 , pl. 15, fig. 1 (colour) (Plate 3D).

Remarks. The colour pattern illustrated in the colour figure of Dana (1852: pl. 15, fig. 1) of a French Polynesian specimen depicts a series of red lines in a rather regular geometric pattern (Plate 3D). A similar pattern is shown in the drawings of western Indian Ocean specimens given by Richters (1880: pl. 16, figs. 9, 10). Richter's illustrations, unfortunately, only showed the lines on the anterior part of the carapace. Photographs of preserved Vietnamese specimens in Serène (1959: pl. 2, figs. A, B), however, show a very different pattern of thicker, diffuse and irregular red­brown lines much closer to those of T. garthi (see Galil 1983: fig. 9B). Examination of numerous live and preserved specimens from French Polynesia ( Castro 1997b) and the western Indian Ocean ( Castro 1999b) has demonstrated that the red lines on the carapace are typically sinuous and interconnected (Galil 1983: fig. 9C; Serène 1984: pl. 38, fig. E; Castro 1997b: pl. 1, fig. F [colour]) but they sometimes follow a more regular geometric pattern. Although all the available evidence points to the fact that recent records are conspecific with Dana's species, it would be better if a neotype is designated.

Dana's type material is lost. The type locality is Carlshoff Island (= Aratika Island) in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia ( Dana 1852: 254). A female (MNHN­B 27681 [ex B 25319]; cl 8.3 mm, cw 10.7 mm) from Moruroa (Mururoa) Atoll (21º50’S, 138º50’W), Tuamotu Archipelago ( Castro 1997b: pl. 1, fig. F [colour]) is herein designated as the neotype. It was collected by J. Poupin and SMSRB divers from Pocillopora at a depth of 5–10 m on March 1996.