Enosteoides melissa ( Miyake, 1942 )

Osawa, Masayuki, 2007, Porcellanidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, Zootaxa 1548, pp. 1-49 : 9-11

Enosteoides melissa ( Miyake, 1942)

( Fig. 3 A–C)

Porcellana melissa Miyake, 1942: 364 , text-figs. 25, 26, pl. I, text-fig. 4 (type locality: Palau); 1943: 131, fig. 52.— Nakasone & Miyake, 1968c: 168, fig. 2, pl. 7, fig. B.— Haig, 1966a: 44.

Enosteoides melissa .— Haig, 1981a: 271; 1983: 285; 1989: 95.

Material examined. Type Material: Palau. Off Ngatmél, Babldáob Island, coll. S. Murakami, 14 Mar. 1938, female CL 8.1 mm, holotype ( ZLKU 4265).

New Caledonia. N/ O "Alis" Campagne SURPRISES, St. DW1390, 18°27.5’S, 163°08.7’E, 38 m, 0 9 May 1999, coll. B. Richerde Forges-IRD, 1 male CL 6.4 mm.

Loyalty Islands. Lifou Island. Santal Bay. Atelier LIFOU. St. 1463 (St. 21), Gaatcha Bay, 20°55.05’S, 167°03.35’E, 20–30 m, 10 Nov. 2000, 1 male CL 2.8 mm.

Remarks. The specimens examined from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands differ from the holotype of E. melissa in having a comparatively broader carapace ( Fig. 3 A) and stouter first ambulatory legs ( Fig. 3 B). The New Caledonian specimen also lacks a fringe of plumose setae and a row of small spines and denticles on the extensor margin of each chela ( Fig. 3 C), which are observed in the holotype. These distinctions are presently regarded as intraspecific variations. More material from the same localities as well as other areas of the Indo-West Pacific is needed to determine the status of the present specimens.

Distribution. Zanzibar, Madagascar, Seychelles, Philippine Islands, and Palau; littoral to 110 m; sand and corals ( Haig 1981b, 1989). The present record of the species from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands greatly extends its distribution to the southwestern Pacific.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Enosteoides melissa (Miyake, 1942), male, CL 6.4 mm, New Caledonia, Campagne SURPRISES, St. DW 1390 (A – C); Capilliporcellana sp., female, CL 7.6 mm, New Caledonia, Ouen Island (D – F). A, D, carapace, and ocular and antennal peduncles, dorsal view; B, right cheliped, dorsal view; C, left first ambulatory leg, lateral view (setae on merus drawn as simplified); E, left cheliped, dorsal view; F, right first ambulatory leg, lateral view (setae drawn as simplified). Scales equal 1.0 mm.