Neocallichirus moluccensis (De Man, 1905 )

Poore, Gary C. B., 2023, New records and one new species of Callichiridae (Crustacea, Axiidea) from the Indo-West Pacific, with keys to species of Corallianassa, Lepidophthalmus and Neocallichirus, Memoirs of Museum Victoria (Mem. Mus. Vic.) 82, pp. 71-95 : 87

Neocallichirus moluccensis (De Man, 1905)

Callianassa (Cheramus) moluccensis (De Man, 1905: 606.—De Man, 1928a: 26, 93, 99, 159–160, pl. 16 fig. 25–25a, pl. 17 fig. 25b–c.

Neocallichirus moluccensis .— Kazmi and Kazmi, 1992: 298–299, fig. 2. — Sakai, 1999: 104, fig. 25.— Sakai, 2005: 181–182.— Sakai, 2011: 462.— Sakai and Türkay, 2014: 185, figs 9, 10.

Diagnosis. Antenna peduncle exceeding antennule peduncle by one-third of article 5. Eyestalk distal lobes truncate, with distolateral sharp corner. Uropodal endopod posterior margin convex-oblique, angle with anterior margin rounded. Telson clearly tapering from subproximal width to rounded corner between well-defined posterolateral margin and convex-straight posterior margin. Maximum cl. 16.5 mm.

Distribution. Eastern Coral Triangle ( Indonesia [type locality: Ambon]).

Remarks. De Man (1928a), Kazmi and Kazmi (1992) and Sakai (1999) illustrated the holotype of Neocallichirus moluccensis , a male (cl. 16.5 mm) without chelipeds from Ambon, Indonesia. These figures are inconsistent, although the cornea appears to be prominent and the anterior lobe on the eyestalk is more or less truncate with a sharp lateral angle. The telson is wider than long, tapering to a narrow posterior margin; the uropodal endopod is about as long as wide and the uropodal exopod about 1.2 times as wide as the anterior margin. A female (cl. 10.3 mm) from Sulawesi is only the second individual illustrated ( Sakai and Türkay, 2014), but the eyestalks are rounded, without the anterolateral angle, and the telson more rounded. No material was available for this study.