Quadrella coronata Dana, 1852

Ng, Peter K. L., 2017, Two new records of the coral symbiont crab genus Quadrella Dana, 1851, from Taiwan, with notes on the taxonomy of Q. boopsis Alcock, 1898 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Trapeziidae), Zootaxa 4324 (3), pp. 571-580 : 572

Quadrella coronata Dana, 1852

Quadrella coronata Dana, 1852: 84 .— Galil 1986: 282, figs. 3E, 4C–E (see for full synonymy until 1986).— Kalk 1995: 228, fig. 8.l0a (incorrectly as Trapezia cymodocea [sic]).— Castro 1997: 63, pl. 7A; 1999a: 95; 1999b: 37.—Castro et al. 2004: 56, pl. 4A.—Ng et al. 2008: 185.

Quadrella coronata var. granulosa Borradaile 1902: 266 .— Laurie 1906: 411.

Material examined. 1 female (9.73 × 8.69 mm) (NMMBCD 4074), Hojie, southern Taiwan, coll. C.-W. Lin , 15 May 2011 ; 1 female (4.60 × 4.16 mm) (NMMBCD 4075), Hojie , southern Taiwan, coll. C.- W. Lin, 14 August 2011 ; 1 male (9.34 × 7.86 mm) (NMMBCD 4076), Hojie , southern Taiwan, coll. C .- W. Lin, 27 October 2012; 1 ovigerous female (7.24 × 6.54 mm) (NMMBCD 4077), Siauliukiu diving spot, South Bay, southern Taiwan, coll. C .- W. Lin, 17 December 2013; 1 male (4.48 × 4.09 mm) (NMMBCD 4078), Back Bay , southern Taiwan, coll. C .- W. Lin, 20 March 2014.

Remarks. The present specimens agree well with the redescription of Q. coronata provided by Galil (1986). The species can be distinguished from other congeners by the anterior margin of the merus of the cheliped bearing 7–10 distinct spines, the posterior margins of the propodi of the first to fourth ambulatory legs are spinose and the tip of the G1 is curved ( Galil 1986; Castro et al. 2004). Galil (1986) notes that the posterior margin of the dactylus of the first to fourth ambulatory legs is armed with 8 teeth; in our specimens, this number ranges from 7 to 9.

Quadrella coronata has a wide range in the Indo-West Pacific, from South Africa through the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, Japan and Australia ( Galil 1986; Castro et al. 2004). Its presence in Taiwan, although recorded only for the first time, is thus not surprising. All the present specimens have been found associated with the soft coral Chironephthya spp. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Nidaliidae ).