Munidopsis wardeni Anderson, 1896

Published, First, 2007, Species of the genus Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1784 from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and reestablishment of the genus Galacantha A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae), Zootaxa 1417, pp. 1-135 : 116-118

Munidopsis wardeni Anderson, 1896

( Fig. 53)

Munidopsis wardeni Anderson, 1896: 99 .— Baba, 2005: 299.

Munidopsis Wardeni. — Alcock, 1901: 257.

Munidopsis (Munidopsis) wardeni .— Tirmizi, 1966: 225, figs. 37A–C.

Munidopsis (Munidopsis) wardeni mabahiss Tirmizi, 1966: 226 , figs. 37D–F, 38.

Munidopsis mabahiss .— Baba, 2005: 291.

Material examined. W Sri Lanka, SAFARI 2, Stn 4 (CP07), 1095 m: 1 M 17.8 mm (MNHN-Ga5583). Gulf of Aden, METEOR 5, Stn 279, 1185– 1186 m: 1 M 10.1 mm, 3 ovig. F 13.6–18.1 mm, 4 F 10.6–14.7 mm ( SMF).—Stn 281, 1063– 1068 m: 1 M 18.2 mm ( SMF) .

Description. Carapace longer than broad, moderately convex from side to side, with scattered short striae more numerous on lateral portions of branchial regions; cervical groove distinct; submedian spines, 0–4 epigastric, 0–7 mesogastric, 0–5 cardiac and 0–3 on posterior border. Gastric region distinct, posterior part delimited by shallow groove. Cardiac region triangular, preceded by deep transverse groove. Rostrum spiniform, upturned in distal half, not carinated dorsally, length 0.4 times remaining carapace, width one-fifth carapace breadth. Antennal spine absent; oblique frontal margin leading to blunt anterolateral process usually ending in small spine, lateral margins usually unarmed (in some specimens, with 4 or 5 teeth on anterobranchial margin).

Pterygostomian region smooth, ending in acute process.

Abdomen smooth, segments 2–4 each with 2 elevated transverse ridges, each ridge having 2–4 small median spines; segment 6 bearing median margin not exceeding posterolateral lobes. Telson composed of 12 plates; posterior plates combined nearly twice as wide as long.

Sternum longer than wide, maximum width at sternites 4 and 7; sternites with some short setigerous striae; sternite 3 wide, bilobate, less than 3 times wider than long; sternite 4 subtriangular, anteriorly narrow, contiguous sternite 3, more than 2.5 times width of sternite 3.

Eye movable, unarmed; corneae subcylindrical, longer than peduncle. Distinct spine ventral to front margin between ocular and antennal peduncles.

Basal article of antennule having strong dorsolateral and distolateral spines, ventromesial process produced and granulated.

Basal article of antennal peduncle with blunt denticulate process on distomesial and distolateral angles; article 2 with distolateral spine; article 3 with small distolateral and distomesial spines.

Mxp 3 ischium having distal spine on extensor and flexor margins, crista dentata with 21–23 denticles; flexor margin of merus with 2 well-developed spines, extensor margin with distal marginal spine.

P1 slender, more than 3 times carapace length, with numerous small scale-like rugosities and setae. Merus longer than carapace, with row of 3 or 4 spines along mesial and dorsal sides and 3 distal spines (mesial, dorsal and lateral). Carpus with 2 or 3 distal spines, more than 2.5 times longer than high. Palm more than 1.5 times longer than fingers, unarmed. Fingers distally spooned, prehensile edges crenulated; fixed finger without denticulate carina on distolateral margin.

P2–P4 slender, decreasing in length posteriorly, with scattered short striae more numerous on lateral side of articles. P2 clearly not reaching end of P1; merus half carapace length, 3 times longer than high, more than 2 times carpus length and nearly 1.5 times length of propodus, dorsal margin with several spines and one long distal spine, ventral margin with distal spine; carpus with distal spine on dorsal margin, granulated crest along lateral side; propodus 3.5 times longer than high, 2 movable distal spine on ventral margin; dactylus more than half as long as propodus, smoothly narrowed distally, ending in curved sharp spine, flexor margin straight, bearing 6 or 7 proximally diminishing low teeth, ultimate tooth rather remote from end of dactylus and much closer to penultimate.

Epipods absent from pereiopods.

Remarks. Tirmizi (1966) compared specimens collected in the Gulf of Aden and Maldives with the original description of M. wardeni , and suggested the existence of a new variety ( Munidopsis wardeni mabahiss ). However, after the examination of numerous specimens collected in the Gulf of Aden, the differences in the spinulation of the carapace, mentioned by Tirmizi (1966), seem to be within the range of intraspecific variation of M. wardeni . Therefore, Tirmizi’s (1966) subspecies is not recognized.

Distribution. Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Zanzibar, Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, between 412 and 1087 m. The present material was collected off western Sri Lanka and Gulf of Aden, at 1063–1186 m.