WAHRANIINAE, Charbonnier & Garassino & Pasini & Chény, 2024

Charbonnier, Sylvain, Garassino, Alessandro, Pasini, Giovanni & Chény, Cédric, 2024, Review of brachyuran crabs from the late Miocene (Messinian) of Oran, Algeria, Geodiversitas 46 (2), pp. 13-29 : 18

WAHRANIINAE n. subfam.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:176801F1-BE77-451A-B53A-7DF9308518FF

TYPE GENUS. — Wahrania n. gen.

DIAGNOSIS. — Carapace pyriform; long, diverging pseudorostral spines (= rostrum); rimmed supraorbital eave with sharp postorbital spine; one very long, sharp hepatic spine with a pair of basal accessorial spines; one long, sharp epibranchial spine; one long, sharp mesobranchial spine; two long, sharp metabranchial spines; dorsal surface of carapace and spines strongly tuberculate.

DISCUSSION

Following Schweitzer et al. (2020), Wahraniinae n. subfam. is placed within Epialtidae based on the weak supraorbital eave without intercalated spine, the very long rostrum bifid, protecting the eye, and one postorbital spine present but not cupped to protect eye. Wahraniinae n. subfam. differs from the Epialtinae, Periacanthinae, Pisinae, Pliosomatinae, and Tychinae by its very elongate antero- and posterolateral spines developed only on the margin and not on the dorsal surface, and by its hepatic spine flanked by basal accessorial spines. The marginal position of antero- and posterolateral spines is closed to Periacanthinae but Periacanthus Bittner, 1875 , besides a short bifid rostrum (versus very long bifid rostrum in Wahrania n. gen.), shows a trifurcate spine on branchial region (versus single and simple spine in Wahrania n. gen.) and a preorbital spine to protect the eye (versus absent in Waharnia n. gen.)