Galathea tanegashimae Baba, 1969

Ahyong, Shane T., 2007, Decapod Crustacea collected by the NORFANZ Expedition: Galatheidae and Polychelidae, Zootaxa 1593, pp. 1-54 : 14

Galathea tanegashimae Baba, 1969

( Fig. 7 )

Galathea tanegashimae Baba, 1969: 16 –18, fig. 4 [type locality: off Nishino-omote, Tanegashima Island, Southern Kyushu, Japan]. — Tirmizi & Javed 1993: 42, 65–66, figs. 17, 28.

Material examined. Lord Howe Rise: NIWA 28076, 1 female (3.6 mm), S of Ball’s Pyramid, 31°52.44’S, 159°14.43’E, 72–82 m, TAN0308/67 #58, 23 May 2003.

Remarks. The single specimen from off Ball’s Pyramid agrees extremely well with Baba’s (1969) account of the holotype of G. tanegashimae . Galathea tanegashimae has been recorded from off Somalia, the Andaman Sea and Japan ( Baba 1969; Tirmizi & Javed 1993) so the present specimen represents the first record from the southwestern Pacific. Galathea tanegashimae closely resembles G. spinosorostris Dana, 1852 , but differs by the absence of dorsal hepatic spines on the carapace. Although Baba (1990) proposed the synonymy of G. spinosorostris and G. tanegashimae, Baba (2005) excluded the latter from the synonymy of the former.

Distribution. Somalia, Andaman Sea, Japan, and for the first time from the southwestern Pacific; between 15–30 and 72–82 m depth ( Baba 1969; present study).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Galathea tanegashimae Baba, 1969, female, 3.6 mm, TAN 0308 / 67 (NIWA 28076). A, dorsal. B, right pterygostomial flap. C, left antennule, ventral view. D, left antenna, ventral view. E, right third maxilliped, lateral view. F, third and fourth sternite. G, right cheliped, lateral view. H, right cheliped fingers, mesial view. I, left pereopod 2. J, right pereopod 3. Scale: A, B, G – J = 1.0 mm; C – F = 0.5 mm.