Halicarcinus ovatus Stimpson, 1858

Poore, Gary C. B., Guinot, Danièle, Komai, Tomoyuki & Naruse, Tohru, 2016, Reappraisal of species attributed to Halicarcinus White, 1846 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae) with diagnosis of four new genera and one new species from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4093 (4), pp. 480-514 : 488

Halicarcinus ovatus Stimpson, 1858

Halicarcinus ovatus Stimpson, 1858: 109 . — Hale 1927: 116 –117, fig. 113. — Melrose 1975: 39 –44, figs 14, 15 (for extensive synonymy). — Lucas 1980: 179 –180, figs 3B–E, 6J, 6K, 7E, 9C. — Poore 2004: 394, fig. 119a, pl. 21g. — Webber 2010: 186, 226.

? Hymenicus krefftii Hess, 1865: 141 –142, pl. 6 fig. 5.

Material examined. Australia. Victoria, Corner Inlet, NMV J17471 (1 male, 5.8 mm; 1 ovigerous female, 6.0 mm) – selected from numerous specimens at NMV. New South Wales, Durras, ZRC 1993.6518–6519 (1 male, 1 female).

Distribution. Southern Australia, intertidal to 85 m ( Poore 2004).

Remarks. Melrose (1975) listed the New Zealand species Halicarcinus huttoni Filhol, 1886 , as a possible synonym of H. ovatus but see the discussion below under H. quoyi . Halicarcinus ovatus is a common Australian endemic; its type locality is Port Jackson [Sydney, New South Wales]. Hymenicus krefftii Hess, 1865 , also with the type locality Sydney, is probably a synonym based on the illustration showing a similar rostrum and preocular pseudorostral lobes. Lucas (1980) and Poore (2004) suggested more than one species may be masquerading under this name.