Metaxanthops acutus Serène, 1984

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 : 26

Metaxanthops acutus Serène, 1984

( Fig. 9B )

Metaxanthops acutus Serène, 1984, p. 214 , fig. 129, pl. 30 figs. D–E. ─ Ng and Clark, 2002, p. 535, fig. 3b.

Material examined. Off Kwannon , Koror I., Palau Is., dredged, with coralline algae; 2 ♂♂ (cb 6.8×cl 5.5 mm; 5.2× 4.1 mm), NSMT-Cr 30987; June 17, 1980; K. Baba leg.

Remarks. Both specimens examined agree well with the photographs of the type specimens from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands ( Serène, 1984: pl. 30 figs. D–E) and also with the photograph of a male from New Caledonia ( Ng and Clark, 2002: fig. 3b). Although Ng and Clark (2002) doubted its identity due to the occurrence at the locality far from the type locality, there seems to be no doubt for the identification as far as the comparison of the photographs concerned.

Distribution. So far known from the literature, the known localities are, as recorded above, in the western Indian Ocean and southern Pacific, and now from the Palau Islands. Serène (1984) recorded that both of the type specimens were collected at the intertidal zone, but the New Caledonian specimen was collected at the depth of 51 m in the lagoon. As for the present specimens, there is no depth record on the label, but the dredging was made in the sea shallower than 40 m in depth similar to the other sampling stations. New to the Palau Islands.

Figures

Fig. 9. A: Gaillardiellus rueppellii (Krauss), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30985; cb 8.8×cl 6.6mm). B: Metaxanthops acutus Serène, ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30987; cb 6.8×cl 5.5mm). C: Lophoplax sextuberculata Takeda and Kurata, ovig.♀ (NSMT-Cr 30992; cb 5.2×cl 4.0mm). D: Vellumnus pygmaeus (Takeda), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30994; cb 5.7×cl 4.5mm). E: Chlorodiella corallicola Miyake and Takeda, ovig.♀ (NSMT-Cr 30980; cb 4.8×cl 3.2mm). F: Chlorodiella xishaensis Chen and Lan, ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30983; cb 8.0×cl 5.7mm).