Munidopsis, WHITEAVES, 1874

Martin, Joel W. & Haney, Todd A., 2005, Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (4), pp. 445-522 : 477

GENUS MUNIDOPSIS WHITEAVES, 1874

Remarks: The galatheid genus Munidopsis is one of the most speciose and widely distributed of all decapod genera. It is also the most commonly encountered galatheid genus at vent and seep sites (e.g. see Chevaldonné & Olu, 1996). A large number of publications mention the presence of this genus in the vicinity of vent or seep sites without further information or without identifying the taxa to species level [e.g. Van Dover et al., 2001 (Indian Ocean); Bergquist et al., 2003; MacDonald et al., 2004 (Gulf of Mexico seeps); see also Chevaldonné & Olu, 1996]. Unpublished records from vent fields include specimens from dive T-452 (Tiburon) in the Escanaba Trough, south Gorda Ridge (J. Voight, pers. comm.). Baba & Poore (2002) reviewed the species of Munidopsis known from Australia. Species off Oregon and adjacent waters were reviewed by Ambler (1980). We assume, despite the fact that several species have been described from vents, that the species of Munidopsis are vagrants rather than endemics. The species Munidopsis granosicorium was described by Williams & Baba (1989), based on a specimen collected off the coast of Oregon. Although the species was described along with other species from vents, M. granosicorium itself is not known from vent or seep sites. Carey (1987) reviewed the distribution and ecology of 11 species in the abyssal plains adjacent to the Gorda Ridge; some of those species may be vagrants at vent fields.

Munidposis sp. Because galatheids are so often encountered at vents and seeps, a large number of papers report the presence of ‘ Munidopsis sp. ’. These include the following reports, some of which mention collected specimens but without further identification or comment: Hecker (1985), Laubier, Ohta & Sibuet (1986), Mayer et al. (1988), MacDonald et al., (1989), Embley et al. (1990), Galkin & Moskalev (1990a), Hashimoto, Fujikura & Hotta (1990), Hashimoto et al. (1995), Jollivet et al. (1990), Ohta (1990a), Van Dover & Hessler (1990), Kim & Ohta (1991), Galkin (1992), Sagalevich et al. (1992), Carney (1994), Hashimoto et al. (1995), Murton et al. (1995), Ohta et al. (1995), and probably many others. The genus is also known from observations and specimens from the Escanaba Trough, south Gorda Ridge, from dive T-452 (J. Voight, pers. comm.). Additionally, Barry et al. (1996) reported a species of the genus from the Monterey Canyon, and Hashimoto & Ohta (1999) report an unidentified species of Munidopsis from the DESMOS site of the Manus Basin. We have noted below those reports that can be reconciled with a known species; in most cases this is not possible.