Mithrax pilosus Rathbun, 1892

Carmona-Suárez, Carlos & Poupin, Joseph, 2016, Majoidea crabs from Guadeloupe Island, with a documented list of species for the Lesser Antilles (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Majoidea), Zoosystema 38 (3), pp. 353-387 : 373-374

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5252/z2016n3a5
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3CB67803-6D84-4628-8EF5-D8281078FA16
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EE0B58-230D-FF9E-FEFF-090F1052FD23
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Mithrax pilosus Rathbun, 1892
status

Treatment

( Fig. 6H View FIG )

Mithrax (Mithrax) pilosus Rathbun, 1892: 262 (type locality: Abaco, Bahamas); 1925: 394 (St Thomas, St Barthélemy, Guadeloupe, Barbados).

Mithrax aculeatus – Stimpson 1860: 188 ( St Thomas). — H. Milne Edwards 1834 -1840: 321 (Antilles). — Desbonne in Desbonne & Schramm 1867: 5 ( Guadeloupe). — A. Milne-Edwards 1873-1880: 102 ( St Thomas, Guadeloupe, Barbados). [These entries following Wagner (1990) but the identity of M. aculeatus (Herbst, 1790) is not clear; see remarks].

Mithrax pilosus – Wagner 1990: 25 ( St Thomas, St Martin, Guadeloupe, La Désirade, Curaçao, Aruba). — Lira 2004: table 1 ( Tortuga). — Lira et al. 2013: table 1 (Margarita, Los Roques, Tortuga).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Guadeloupe. KARUBENTHOS 2012, 3♂ MNHN-IU-2013-13082 (lot JL355-3; first identification as M. aculeatus ), st. GM07, 1 m ; 1 sp. MNHN-IU-2013-4423 (lot JL282 first identification as ‘ Nemausa acuticornis ’), 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-6732 (lot JL1039 first identification as ‘ Nemausa acuticornis ’), st. GM06, 1 m; 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-4802 (lot JL30, first identification as ‘ Mithrax hispidus ’), st. GM02, 1 m; 1♂ MNHN-IU-2013-5929 ( JL21 ; first identification as ‘ Mithrax verrucosus ’), st. GM02, 1 m ; first identification as ‘ Mithrax sp.’: 2 juv. MNHN-IU-2013-4464 (lot JL1426-6; in loan with D. Felder, April 2014), st. GB 32, 4 m; 3 sp. MNHN-IU-2013-6623 (lot JL547-1; in loan with D. Felder, April 2014), 1 ♀ 14.7 × 14.7 mm MNHN-IU-2013-6624 (lot JL547-2; in loan with D. Felder, April 2014) [Corrections based on verification of photographs during the final writing of this work; all these specimens belong to a unique species which is most probably M. pilosus ; specimens MNHN 4464 View Materials , 6623 View Materials , and 6624, labeled as ‘ M. aculeatus ’ have been sent (April 2014) to D. Felder for further study, including DNA analysis] .

DIAGNOSIS. —Three spines on basal segment of antenna. Three or four spines on propodites of ambulatory legs. Spines on proximal half of upper surface of palm. The specimens studied herein are Mithrax pilosus as figured in Rathbun (1925: pl. 258).

HABITAT. — Collected at low tide in rocks and rubble. Collected

1-4 m, reported 1- 5 m. DISTRIBUTION. — Western Atlantic. Florida Keys, Bahamas, Cuba,

western Gulf Mexico, Venezuela. Lesser Antilles VI ( St Thomas), ICA (St Martin, St Barthélemy, Guadeloupe,?Martinique*, Barbados), IOV (Margarita, Tortuga, Los Roques, Curaçao, Aruba). *Martinique, with hesitation, from unpublished observation (in situ photo Y. Buske, in Legall & Poupin 2016).

REMARKS

Mithrax pilosus Rathbun, 1892 is considered as a junior synonym of M. aculeatus (Herbst, 1790) ( Ng et al. 2008; WoRMS 2016) but it is valid in Wagner (1990) and Felder et al. (2009). The identity of M. aculeatus (Herbst) is discussed in Ng et al. (2008) and Windsor & Felder (2014). The later consider that M. aculeatus (Herbst) is a synonym of M. verrucosus H. Milne-Edwards a decision that is not followed herein (see under M. verrucosus ).

Mithrax verrucosus H. Milne-Edwards, 1832 ( Fig. 6I View FIG )

Mithrax verrucosus H. Milne Edwards, 1832: 13 , pl. 4 (Martinique); 1834-1840: 321 (Antilles). — Desbonne in Desbonne & Schramm 1867: 6 (Guadeloupe). — A. Milne-Edwards 1873-1880: 102 (Guadeloupe, Martinique). — Scelzo & Varela 1988: 37 (Blanquilla). — Wagner 1990: 29 ( St Thomas, St John, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Trinidad, Tobago, Bonaire, Klein Bonaire, Aruba). — García et al. 1998: table 1 (Isla de Aves View in CoL ). — Hernández et al 1999: table 2 (Margarita). — Marcano & Bolaños 2001: 77 (Cubagua). — Lira 2004: table 1 ( Tortuga). — Marcano & Bolaños 2001: 77 (Cubagua). — Carré 2005: 23 (Martinique). — Tagliafico et al. 2005: table 1 (Los Frailes near Margarita). — Hernández-Ávila et al. 2007: table 1 (Cubagua). — Lira et al. 2013: table 1 (Isla de Aves, Margarita, Cubagua, Los Roques View in CoL , Tortuga, Blanquilla).

Mithrax (Mithrax) verrucosus – Rathbun 1924b: 20 ( Curaçao); 1925: 400 ( St Thomas, Guadeloupe, Curaçao).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Guadeloupe. KARUBENTHOS 2012, 1♂ MNHN-IU-2013-5934 (lot JL16), 1 ov. ♀ MNHN-IU-2013-5935 (lot JL16), 1 ov. ♀, 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-14662 (lot JL36-2), st. GM02, 1 m ; 1♂ MNHN-IU-2013-6701 (lot JL1448), st. GM 34, 1 m; 1 ♀ juv. MNHN-IU-2013-5960 (lot JL497), st. GR 15, 11 m.

DIAGNOSIS. — Size medium to large. Dorsum closely paved with flat granules. Margins of carapace spinous. Wrist of chelipeds nearly smooth above, 3 tubercles/spines on inner edge; upper edge of palm without spines.

HABITAT. — Found between Rhizophora mangle roots, on rocky shores, sandy beaches, Thalassia and Halodule meadows, coral, rubble. Collected 1-11 m, reported 1-? 24 m.

DISTRIBUTION. — Western Atlantic. South Carolina , Cuba, Gulf of Mexico , Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil. Lesser Antilles VI (St Thomas, St John ), ICA ( St Martin *, Guadeloupe , Isla de Aves, Martinique , Grenada, Trinidad, Tobago), IOV ( Margarita , Cubagua , Blanquilla , Tortuga, Los Roques, Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba). * St Martin from unpublished fieldwork ( UF31924 , 12.IV.2012; UF32542, 32564, 25.IV.2012; coll. & photo A. Anker / G. Paulay) .

REMARKS

Windsor & Felder (2014) have proposed M. verrucosus as a synonymy of M. aculeatus (Herbst) considering that Herbst plate (1790, pl. 19, fig. 104) shows some resemblance with a large adult of M. verrucosus . The two species seem however to be different if Herbst’s plate is compared with the plate also available in H. Milne-Edwards (1832, pl. 4) for M. verrucosus (see Fig. 7 View FIG ). Rostral horns and spines on wrist and upper margin of palm in Cancer aculeatus (Herbst, 1790, pl. 19) would better match that of M. pilosus . While the exact identity of M. aculeatus Herbst is not clarified we prefer to keep herein M. verrucosus as a valid species. Because of these different appreciations M. aculeatus illustrated in Windsor & Felder (2014, Fig. 3G View FIG ) is the same as M. verrucosus of Figure 6I View FIG in the present work.