Palicoides whitei ( Miers, 1884 )

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 : 34-36

Palicoides whitei ( Miers, 1884)

( Figs. 14A–B , 15A–B )

Cymopolia whitei Miers, 1884, p. 551 , pl. 49 fig. C.

Palicus whitei (Miers) : Alcock, 1900, p. 453.─ Calman, 1900, p. 31, figs. 14–19.─ Rathbun, 1911, p. 240, pl. 19 fig. 10.─ McNeill, 1968, p. 82.

Palicoides whitei (Miers) : Moosa and Serène, 1981, p. 46, figs. 9–10.─ Castro, 2000, pp. 561 (in key), 565 (lit.), figs. 42b, 43b–d, 61d.

Palicoides ternatensis Moosa and Serène, 1981, p. 50 , fig. 11, pl. 3 fig. B.

Material examined. Off Kwannon , Koror I., Palau Is., dredged, with coralline algae; 1♂(cb 7.0×cl 4.7 mm), NSMT-Cr 31000; June 17, 1980; K. Baba leg.

Remarks. Both chelipeds, three pairs of the right ambulatory legs and the left third or fourth leg, and both of the reduced last pereopods are missing in the male at hand. However, it is safely identified as Palicoides whitei due to the detailed morphological differentiation from another representative of the genus, P. longimana ( Miyake, 1936) , based on numerous specimens by Castro (2000). The sculpture of the carapace dorsal surface is characteristic as shown in Fig. 14A . The distal part of the eyestalk is strongly developed as a curved tubercle to protect the cornea, indicated with arrow in Fig. 15A . The G1 of the present male agrees with the figures given by Calman (1900), Moosa and Serène (1981) and Castro (2000), in having the bifurcated distal part with the long and short flattened processes. In the present specimen, the G1 is typical in having the distal long process directed forward ( Fig. 15B ). Castro (2000) showed that the marginal armature of the processes becomes more complex in the specimens of larger sizes.

Distribution. The known localities are shown on the map by Castro (2000), from the Ryukyu Islands to Indonesian waters, Australia, and New Caledonia in the Pacific, and from the Andaman Islands to Madagascar and the Red Sea in the Indian Ocean. The recorded bathymetric depth is from 7 to 70 m. McNeill (1968) recorded the specimens dredged at the depth of 34–36 m, with thick Halimeda weed, off North Direction Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Castro (2000) wrote as ʺIt is an inhabitant of coarse-sand sediments (particularly those rich in the coralline alga, Halimeda ) that is associated with coral reefs.ʺ The specimen from the Palau Islands was also obtained together with coralline algae. New to the Palau Islands.

Figures

Fig. 14. A–B: Palicoides whitei (Miers), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 31000; cb 7.0×cl 4.7mm) in dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views. C–F: Neopalicus jukesii (White), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30997; cb 8.2×cl 7.3mm) (C–E), and ovig.♀ (NSMT-Cr 30998; 8.7×7.6mm). Carapaces in dorsal view (C, F), abdomen (D) and G1 in situ (E).

Fig. 15. A–B: Palicoides whitei (Miers), ♂(NSMT-Cr 31000; cb 7.0×cl 4.7mm). Left orbital region, with third maxilliped, in ventral view (A) and right G1 in sternal view (B). Arrow in Fig. A shows a curved tubercle extending from the eyestalk to guard the cornea. C–E: Neopalicus jukesii (White), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30997; cb 8.2×cl 7.3mm). Left third maxilliped (C), G1 in ventral view (D) and distal part of the same in sternal view (E). F–G: Trierarchus squamosus (Stephenson and Hudson, 1957), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30977; cb 12.6×cl 8.7mm). Left third maxilliped (F) and left G1 in sternal view. (G). Scales for AC=1mm, BEFG=2 mm, D=0.5mm.