Parasesarma kuekenthali (De Man, 1902 )

Lagare, Nickel Jean S., Mapi-Ot, Emmarie F., Molina, Ziljih S., Neri, Jemateo B., Nuñeza, Olga M. & Mendoza, Jose Christopher E., 2020, On a collection of freshwater and estuarine crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura) from Mindanao Island, the Philippines, Zootaxa 4868 (3), pp. 301-330 : 310

Parasesarma kuekenthali (De Man, 1902)

Figs. 3F, 7 A –D

Material examined. 7 males, 8.2 by 6.7 mm—15.0 by 13.0 mm, 3 females, 10.8 by 8.7 mm—14.2 by 11.8 mm ( ZRC; NJL191623–32 ), Brgy. Dona Helen, Basilisa town , Dinagat I. prov., coll. N.J. Lagare, 1 Jun. 2019 .

Remarks. Parasesarma kuekenthali (De Man, 1902) was previously described as a variety of Sesarma (Parasesarma) calypso from Halmahera, Indonesia, without any illustrations. It was subsequently treated as a subspecies of S. (P.) calypso by Tesch (1917), and as a full species by Ng et al. (2008). This species was also reported from Taiwan and the northern islands of the South China Sea ( Li 2015; Li et al. 2019). Little else is known about the morphology of this species besides what is stated in the original description, making a thorough examination of the type material necessary. Shahdadi, Schubart & Mendoza (submitted) provide a re-description based on the types. The present material from Basilisa, agrees well with original description (De Man 1902: 534, 535), particularly in having 9 tubercles on the dorsal surface of the dactylus of the male chela, and the presence of low transverse ridges on the surface of these dactylar tubercles ( Fig. 7A, B). The photographs of the G1 are also shown here ( Fig. 7C, D) for future morphological comparisons. The Basilisa specimens were collected among rocks or from burrows in rocky-sandy substrate along a brackish stream about 300 m inland from the coast. They occurred sympatrically with Neosarmatium indicum and Ptychognathus pusillus .

New Philippine record.