Plesionika grandis Doflein, 1902

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 : 260-261

Plesionika grandis Doflein, 1902

Plesionika spinipes var. grandis Doflein, 1902: 618 , pl. 3: figs. 3- 5 [type locality: Sagami Bay , Japan].

Parapandalus spinipes – De Man, 1920: 108, 142, pl. 12: fig. 33a, c-e, pl. 13, fig. 33, 33b.

Plesionika grandis –- Chace, 1985: 66, figs. 28, 29; Hayashi, 1986: 132, 133, 271, fig. 83; Chan & Crosnier, 1991: 423, figs. 3f, 22.

Material examined. – 6 females (cl 9.2-14.1 mm), 2 damaged females ( IOCAS), CN K33 B-51B, 19 30’N, 113 00’E, 180m, muddy sand, AT, coll. F. Sun, 21 Apr.1959 ; 24 males (cl 9.5-18 mm), 28 females (cl 9.2-14.5 mm), 1 ovig. female (cl 18.1 mm) ( IOCAS) , 1 male, 1 female ( ZRC), CN K46B2-19 , 20 00’N, 113 30’E, 140m, sand, AT, coll. F. Sun, 25 Apr.1959 ; 4 males (cl 9.4-16.0 mm), 2 females (cl 9.1, 11.3 mm), 2 juveniles (cl mm), 1 damaged specimen (not measured), CN K84B2-23 , 20 00’N, 113 30’E, 180m, sand, AT, coll. J. Liu, 20 Nov.1959 ; 1 female (cl 17.1 mm) ( IOCAS), CN K122 B-42, 19 00’N, 112 30’E, 300m, sand, AT, coll. S. Shen, 8 Feb.1960 ; 1 female (cl 6.6 mm) ( IOCAS), CN K142 B-8, 20 00’N, 113 30’E, 141 m, sand and shells, AT, coll. S. Shen, 17 Feb.1960 ; 1 female (cl 8.9 mm) ( IOCAS), CN K150 B-28B, 19 00’N, 112 30’E, 290m, muddy sand, AT, coll. Z. Tang, 6 Apr.1960 .

Distribution. – Widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, but known with certainty from Japan, East and South China seas, Philippines, Indonesia, northwestern Australia, Zanzibar area of eastern Africa and Madagascar, at depths of 110- 375 m.

Remarks. – The taxonomic status of Plesionika grandis was rather controversial in its relationship to P. spinipes Bate, 1888 (see De Man, 1920; Chace, 1985). Chan & Crosnier (1991) concluded that the two forms are specifically distinct, differing in the rostral armature and the relative length of the dactylus of the third pereopod. Our examination of the present material supports the distinctiveness of the two species.