Lophomastix, BENEDICT, 1904

BOYKO, CHRISTOPHER B., 2002, A Worldwide Revision Of The Recent And Fossil Sand Crabs Of The Albuneidae Stimpson And Blepharipodidae, New Family (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Hippoidea), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2002 (272), pp. 1-396 : 11

LOPHOMASTIX BENEDICT, 1904

Blepharopoda [sic]: Durufle´, 1889: 92–95 (part).— Bouvier, 1898a: 566.— Bouvier, 1898b: 337 (part) (not Blepharipoda Randall, 1840 ).

Blephacopoda [sic]: Durufle´, 1889: unnumbered fig. (not Blepharipoda Randall, 1840 ).

Lophomastix Benedict, 1904: 621 . – Balss, 1927: 1011. – Shen, 1949: 160–162. – Balss, 1957: 1599. – Miyake, 1978: 157. – Wicksten, 1980: 209 (list). – Coêlho and Calado, 1987: 41. – Calado, 1995: 225. – Sun and Wang, 1996: 35– 36. – Boyko and Harvey, 1999: 383. – Schweitzer and Boyko, 2000: 631–632.

Blepharipoda: Balss, 1914: 92 (part). – Makarov, 1938: 110–111 (not Blepharipoda Randall, 1840 ).

Lophomastrix [sic]: Urita, 1934: 149, 153.

Lophopmastrix [sic]: Sun and Wang, 1996: 36.

Lophmastix [sic]: Sun and Wang, 1996: fig. 6.

DIAGNOSIS: Hepatic anterolateral spine present; anterior gastric spine absent; branchiostegite weakly to moderately spinose. Distal segment of ocular peduncle entire. Dorsal flagellum with 18–54 articles, ventral flagellum with 6–13 articles. Antennal flagellum with 8–12 articles. Pereopod I dactylus dorsal margin smooth. Pereopods II–IV dactyli with produced, rounded heels.

DISTRIBUTION: Known from Russia; Japan; China; Korea; Baja California, Mexico; and California, USA (Recent); also from Washington, USA (fossil).

TYPE SPECIES: Lophomastix diomedeae Benedict, 1904 , by monotypy.

INCLUDED SPECIES: L. japonica (Durufle´, 1889); L. diomedeae Benedict, 1904 ; L. antiqua Schweitzer and Boyko, 2000 .

REMARKS: Bouvier (1898a) remarked on the primitive nature of the gill formula of Blepharipoda fauriana , a synonym of Lophomastix japonica . He also noted that the gill type (trichobranch) resembled that of other primitive anomurans such as the paguroids Pylocheles A. Milne Edwards and Mixtopagurus A. Milne Edwards , and the freshwater galatheoid Aegla Leach. In this, Bouvier was not entirely correct, as Mc­ Laughlin and de Saint Laurent (1998) subsequently showed that the gill type of paguroids is actually biserial or quadriserial, rath­ er than trichobranch. However, those of the aeglids and the blepharipodids are truly trichobranch. Subsequent authors took little notice of Bouvier’s (1898a) statements and continued to place Lophomastix , and its sister taxon Blepharipoda , within the Albuneidae . Lophomastix and Blepharipoda share trichobranch gill structure and identical gill formulas, as well as similar overall carapace, abdomen, and pereopod morphology. Both genera are antitropical in distribution (i.e., occurring both to the north and south of tropical waters).