Metopograpsus gracilis Saussure, 1858

Ng, Ngan Kee, Rodríguez Moreno, Paula A., Naruse, Tohru, Guinot, Danièle & Mollaret, Noémy, 2019, Annotated type-catalogue of Brachyura (Crustacea, Decapoda) of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Part II. Gecarcinidae and Grapsidae (Thoracotremata, Grapsoidea), with an Appendix of pre- 1900 collectors, Zoosystema 41 (7), pp. 91-130 : 115

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5252/zoosystema2019v41a7
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:65E3A0BD-2AAD-4E12-9CB0-73C974BFCE65
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3729591
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EEDE4B-FFFC-FFA4-EC89-FF4DB5B0F98B
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Metopograpsus gracilis Saussure, 1858
status

Treatment

Metopograpsus gracilis Saussure, 1858 View in CoL

( Fig. 7A View FIG )

Metopograpsus gracilis Saussure, 1858a: 443 View in CoL , pl. 2, fig. 15, 15a-c; 1858b: 27, pl. 2, fig. 15, 15a-c.

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Pachygrapsus gracilis (Saussure, 1858) View in CoL , accepted recombination (see Poupin et al. 2005: 15).

LECTOTYPE (by inference from holotype designation by Türkay 1974c). — MHNG, ♀ 16.0 × 21.0 mm, St Thomas , Virgin Is.

PARALECTOTYPE. — MNHN-IU-2000-10991 (= MNHN-B10991), 1 ♀ 8.4 × 11.1 mm, Saint Thomas, coll. M. de Saussure. — Original label: “ Pachygrapsus gracilis Saussure , ♀, St Thomas, M. de Saussure ”; on the back of the cardboard “ Metopograpsus gracilis Sauss. , ♀, St Thomas = Pachygrapsus, M. de Saussure , 270.58” .

PRESERVATION. — Carapace cracked on right side at cardiac region, RP4 missing.

REMARKS

Saussure (1858a: 443, pl. 2, fig. 15, 15a-c) established this species from a specimen measuring 16.0 × 21.0 mm collected from St Thomas, Virgin Islands (see Appendix), but his description did not explicitly mention how many specimens were examined. A female, 16.0 × 21.0 mm, in the MHNG was regarded as holotype by Türkay (1974c: 144, pl. 1, figs 5, 6) in his paper on the Grapsidae deposited at the MHNG: it is a dry specimen (P. Schwendinger, pers. comm., Dec. 2012). In assuming a holotype rather than designating a lectotype, Türkay (1974b: 145) proceeded as though syntypes did not exist. But there is a specimen, a dry female, collected by Saussure from the same locality, St Thomas, deposited in the MNHN collection, MNHN-IU-2000-10991 (= MNHN-B10991), as confirmed by the mention in the CAA of an exchange between Saussure and the MNHN in 1858, entry 270, corresponding to “270.58” on the original label. We may consider that this specimen has been collected at the same time as the holotype and could belong to the syntype series. Therefore, Türkay (1974c), who has published the assumption that the species-group taxon was based upon a single type specimen, is deemed to have designated that specimen as the lectotype (Code, Art. 74.6: Fixation of lectotype by inference of “ holotype ”). The female MNHN-IU-2000-10991 (= MNHN-B10991) may be considered paralectotype.