Naxioides hirta A. Milne-Edwards, 1865

Shaga, I Bevin, Priya, K, Ramar, Selvakumar, Srinidhi, S, Mohan, G Chandra, Ranganathan, Sukanya, Moulvi, S M M & Mani, Bhuvaneswari, 2023, A Small Collection of Subtidal Crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) from the Palau Islands Collected by Dredging, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 49 (1), pp. 7-42 : 11

Naxioides hirta A. Milne-Edwards, 1865

( Fig. 1D)

Material examined. Off Kwannon , Koror I., Palau Is., dredged; 1 Ə (cb 17.0 mm excluding branchial spines×pcl 25.2 mm including posterior tubercle; rl 10.5 mm), NSMT-Cr 30958; June 17, 1980; K. Baba leg.

Remarks. The records of this species are not so many, but there is no doubt for its identifica- tion as Naxioides hirta due to the good representations by the original author (A. Milne-Edwards, 1865) and some later authors such as Hilgendorf (1879, as Podopisa petersii ), Sakai (1938), and Takeda et al. (2019). The pear-shaped carapace ( Fig. 1D) with many granules of various sizes and a sharp epibranchial spine at each side suggests some Hyastenus species, but the anterior part of the carapace is fairly strongly deflexed and each rostral spine is armed with a subsidiary spine at its dorsal median surface, which is not a character diagnostic to Hyastenus . The inwardly curved tip of the rostral spine also characterizes this species.

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific from Japan to the western Indian Ocean through Asian waters, with 15–35 m in depth. New to the Palau Islands.