Paramunida Baba, 1988

Cabezas, Patricia & Macpherson, Enrique, 2014, A new species of Paramunida Baba, 1988 from the Central Pacific Ocean and a new genus to accommodate P. granulata (Henderson, 1885), ZooKeys 425, pp. 15-32 : 16-17

Taxon classification Animalia Decapoda Munididae

Genus Paramunida Baba, 1988

Paramunida Baba, 1988: 175 (gender: feminine). - Poore 2004: 239. - Baba 2005: 197. - Baba et al. 2008: 171 (compilation of species). - Baba et al. 2009: 277. - Cabezas et al. 2010: 5. - Macpherson and Baba 2011: 60.

Diagnosis.

(modified from Baba et al. 2009) Carapace as long as wide; dorsal surface covered with spinules, indistinct transverse striae; posterior margin with some spines; rostrum short, basally subtriangular, distally ending in spine; supraocular spines small, clearly not reaching midlength of rostrum and falling short the end of the corneae; margin between rostral and supraocular spines straight or slightly concave; anterolateral spines well developed at front near anterolateral angles, reaching the level between rostrum and supraocular spines; lateral margins with some spines. Eyes large, maximum corneal diameter about one-third distance between anterolateral spines. Lateral margin of antennular article 1 with distal slender portion about half as long as proximal inflated portion, with 2 distal small spines. Antennal peduncle with anterior prolongation of article 1 spiniform; article 2 with distomesial spine never reaching end of anterior prolongation of article 1. P1-P4 long and slender, squamate; P2-P4 dactyli slender, curved and unarmed on flexor margin. Male gonopods only present on the second abdominal somite.

Type species.

Paramunida setigera Baba, 1988; by original designation.

Remarks.

The Munida scabra group was recognized by K. Baba in 1981. It included five species - Munida scabra (Henderson, 1885), Munida granulata (Henderson, 1885), Munida proxima (Henderson, 1885), Munida tricarinata (Alcock, 1894) and Munida hawaiiensis (Baba, 1981) - all characterized by having a short rostrum, carapace without transverse ridges covered by spinules and granules, the antennal peduncle with a well-developed anterior prolongation of article 1, and male gonopods absent from first abdominal somite. All these peculiarities suggested that the scabra group represented an independent lineage from Munida , but further investigations were recommended. Later work confirmed the taxonomic significance of this group and the genus Paramunida Baba, 1988 was formally described in a report on the chirostylid and galatheid crustaceans from the “Albatross” Philippine Expedition ( Baba 1988). This new genus accommodated the species belonging to the scabra group plus two new described species Paramunida longior and Paramunida setigera . Paramunida was substantially enlarged through the MUSORSTOM-TDSB expeditions in waters around the Philippines, Indonesia and New Caledonia ( Macpherson 1993; Baba 2005), Wallis and Futuna ( Macpherson 1996), eastern Australia ( Ahyong and Poore 2004), Fiji and Tonga ( Macpherson 2004), French Polynesia ( Macpherson 2006), New Zealand ( Ahyong 2007), Taiwan and Japan ( Baba et al. 2009; Macpherson and Baba 2009), and the Solomon Islands ( Cabezas et al. 2009). Most recently, the taxonomic revision of the genus resulted in the description of 11 new species ( Cabezas et al. 2010), and examination of material collected during the PANGLAO expeditions added three new ones namely Paramunida akaina , Paramunida aspera and Paramunida aurora (Cabezas & Chan, 2014). After the taxonomic rearrangements proposed in the present study the genus Paramunida comprises 40 species (see below).