Coralliogalathea humilis ( Nobili, 1905 )

Dong, Chao & Li, Xinzheng, 2010, First records of six galatheid species (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from Chinese waters, Zootaxa 2343, pp. 31-44 : 34-36

Coralliogalathea humilis ( Nobili, 1905)

( Figs. 4 , 5 )

Galathea humilis Nobili, 1905: 397 ; 1906a: 124, pl. 8, fig. 4. — Doflein & Balss, 1913: 169 (list). — Lewinsohn, 1969: 117, fig. 22.

Galathea megalochira Nobili, 1906b: 260 ; 1907: 376, pl. 1, figs 12, 12a, 12b. — Doflein & Balss, 1913: 169 (list).

Galathea tridentirostris Miyake, 1953: 202 , figs 3, 4.

Coralliogalathea humilis . — Baba & Javed, 1974: 62, fig. 1. — Baba, 1977: 250; 1982: 61. — Peyrot-Clausade, 1989: 112. — Baba, 1990: 952 (list). — Tirmizi & Javed, 1993: 36, fig. 16. — Poupin, 1996: 19. — Baba, 2005: 240 (list). — Baba et al., 2008: 59.

Material examined. South China Sea. 1 female, Cl 1.65 mm; 1 female, Cl 2.04 mm, MBM150076, CN58C- 525, Jinqing Island, Xisha Archipelago, AT, 24 April 1958.

Distribution. South China Sea; Red Sea; Tuamotu Archipelago, Ohura; Miyako-jima and Ishigaki-jima, Ryukyu Islands; Palau Islands; Djibouti, Gulf of Aden; Madagascar; Biak I., New Guinea; French Polynesia.

Remarks. Both of the specimens are rather small and all the pereopods are missing. A stout spine close to the pleural suture of the pterygostomian flap, the special shape of the third sternite, and other characters agree basically with the descriptions and illustrations of Baba & Javed (1974) and Tirmizi & Javed (1993) except for some intraspecific variations: the flexor margin of the merus of the third maxilliped of one female is armed with one spine and the other female with two spines, whereas most of the specimens from Baba & Javed (1974) and Tirmizi & Javed (1993) are armed with a single spine but four ovigerous females with two spines; three of the eleven specimens from Baba (1974) and two of seven from Tirmizi & Javed (1993) have a biramously dentate tip of the betal-leaf-formed third thoracic sternite, as so do both of specimens in this work.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Coralliogalathea humilis (Nobili, 1905), MBM 150076, female. A, body, dorsal view; B, uropods and telson, dorsal view; C, sternal plastron. Scales = 1 mm.

FIGURE 5. Coralliogalathea humilis (Nobili, 1905), MBM 150076, female. A, dorsal view; B, ventral view.