Procletes levicarina ( Bate, 1888 )

Li, Xinzheng & Komai, Tomoyuki, 2003, Pandaloid Shrimps From The Northern South China Sea, With Description Of A New Species Of Plesionika (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 51 (2), pp. 257-275 : 271

Procletes levicarina ( Bate, 1888)

Dorodotes levicarina Bate, 1888: 680 [type locality: Arafura Sea west of Torres Strait].

Heterocarpus (Heterocarpoides) levicarina – De Man, 1920: 110, 178, pl. 15, fig. 44- 44f.

Heterocarpoides levicarina – Office of NCOS, 1963: figs. 140- 145; Liu, 1963: 231; Chace, 1985: 16, figs. 11, 12; Wang, 1987: 49; Liu & Zhong, 1994: 560.

Heterocarpus (Heterocarpoides) glabrus Zarenkov, 1971: 193 , figs. 4 (16-27) [type locality: South China Sea].

Heterocarpus (Procletes) levicarina . – Menon, 1972: 382-390.

Procletes levicarina – Holthuis, 1993: 278, fig. 277.

Material examined. – 2 ovig. females (cl 15.7, 18.1 mm) ( IOCAS), CN Q45B-19, 17 45’N, 109 00’E, 74 m, sandy mud, AT, coll. Z. Fan, 11 Apr.1959; 1 female (cl 12.2 mm) ( IOCAS), CN Q57 B-8, 18 15’N, 108 15’E, 7 1 m, mud, BT, coll. F. Xu, 16 Apr.1959 ; 3 males (cl 9.8-12.6 mm), 2 females (cl 10.1, 12.6 mm), 1 ovig. female (cl 15.5 mm) ( IOCAS), CN N64 B-32, 20 00’N, 111 15’E, 48 m, mud, AT, coll. Z. Tang, 12 Jul.1959 ; 1 juv. (cl 4.8 mm) ( IOCAS), CN SIII28 B-25B, 21 45’N, 116 00’E, 103 m, sand, AT, coll. W. Zhang, 15 Jul.1959 ; 4 females (cl 7.9-11.5 mm), 1 ovig. female (cl 11.1 mm) ( IOCAS) , 1 female ( ZRC), CN K91 B-2, 21 15’N, 113 00’E, 43 m, sandy mud, AT, coll. Y. Wang, 21 Oct.1959 ; 3 females (cl 10.0- 12.6 mm) ( IOCAS), CN S136 B-24, 21 45’N, 114 00’E, 43 m, mud, AT, coll. S. Wu, 9 Dec.1959 ; 1 ovig. female (cl 9.6 mm) ( IOCAS), CN X60 B-8, Beibu Bay , 19 30’N, 107 00’E, 52 m, muddy sand, AT, coll. Z. Fan, 8 Feb.1960 ; 1 male (cl 12.7 mm) ( IOCAS), CN Q183 B-5, Beibu Bay , 20 30’N, 109 45’E, 14 m, sandy mud, AT, coll. F. Sun, 17 Apr.1960 ; 1 female (cl 6.7 mm) ( IOCAS), CN N219 B-170, 18 15’N, 108 30’E, 54 m, mud and shells, AT, coll. J. Liu, 16 May.1960 ; 1 male (cl 9.4 mm), 1 female (cl 9.9 mm), 1 ovig. female (cl 15.0 mm) ( IOCAS), CN Z14 B-21, Beibu Bay , 20 00’N, 109 00’E, 74 m, sandy mud, AT, coll. Z. Fan, 16 May.1960 ; 1 female (cl 9.1 mm) ( IOCAS), CN Q290 A-12, Beibu Bay , 20 30’N, 108 00’E, 45 m, muddy sand, coll. W. Zhang, 10 Nov.1960 ; 1 female (cl 10.5 mm) ( IOCAS), CN X196 B-46, Beibu Bay , 19 00’N, 107 00’E, 60 m, sandy mud, AT, 12 Apr.1962 ; 1 male (cl 10.4 mm) ( IOCAS), CN K237 B-28, Beibu Bay , 19 00’N, 107 00’E, 60 m, sandy mud, AT, coll. F. Sun, 19 Aug.1962 .

Distribution. – Red Sea to Indonesia, South China Sea, Philippines, and Japan; 14- 393 m.

Remarks. – Intraspecific variation in this species is here evaluated precisely, as abundant samples were available for examination during this study. In all the 28 specimens examined, the development of the lateral carinae on the carapace are variable from weak to rather distinct but not sharp. The development of the median carina on the first somite is also variable, as mentioned by Chace (1985). The mentioned carina is conspicuous in the 24 specimens, but it is absent in the three specimens (one females from N64B-32, one ovigerous females from X60B-8 and one juvenile from SIII28B-25) or discernible as a trace in one females from N219B-170. The number of the carpal articles of the second pereopods is usually six in either side in the 22 specimens with intact second pereopods, but it is only five in the right second pereopod of the two specimens (one female from S136B-24 and one male from Q183B-5). In the latter two specimens, the left second pereopods bear six carpal articles. We could not find any correlation between the differences in the development of the lateral carinae on the carapace and of the median carina of the first abdominal somite, and the number of the carpal articles of the second pereopods. Therefore, we believe that the present specimens represent a single variable species.

Zarenkov (1971) described a new species, Heterocarpus ( Heterocarpoides [sic]) glabrus based on a single female specimen taken by the RV Orlik in the South China Sea off the south Viet Nam at a depth of 75 m. He distinguished his new taxon from the present species by the possession of five, rather than six carpal articles of the second pereopods and indistinct median carina on the first abdominal somite. However, as mentioned above, these characters are variable intraspecifically. Chace (1985) suggested that it may be best to treat Zarenkov’s (1971) specimen as a variant of Procletes levicarina (as Heterocarpoides ) until additional specimens with five articles in the carpus of the second pereopod are found. Although the holotype of Zarenkov’s taxon was not available for study, we believe that Heterocarpus (Heterocarpoides) glabrus is a junior subjective synonym of Procletes levicarina .