Psopheticus crosnieri Guinot, 1990

Castro, Peter, 2007, A reappraisal of the family Goneplacidae MacLeay, 1838 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) and revision of the subfamily Goneplacinae, with the description of 10 new genera and 18 new species, Zoosystema 29 (4), pp. 609-774 : 742

Psopheticus crosnieri Guinot, 1990

? Psopheticus stridulans – Guinot 1969b: 528, figs 81, 82 [Comoro Is, Madagascar].

Psopheticus aff. stridulans – Guinot & Richer de Forges 1981b: 256 (part) [ Madagascar]. — Guinot 1990: 334 [in key], 335 [in table], 338, figs 2, 3, 7-9, 44-46 [ la Réunion].

Psopheticus crosnieri Guinot, 1990: 334 [in key], 335 [in table], 351, figs 29-34, 50, 51 [ Madagascar].

TYPE MATERIAL. — Madagascar, trawling 46, ♂ holotype, cl 24.7 mm, cw 34.5 mm ( MNHN-B 10344 ) ; 3 ♂♂ paratypes (cl 22.4 mm, cw 29.3 mm; cl 20.7 mm, cw 28.5 mm; cl 20.0 mm, cw 27.8 mm), ♀ paratype, cl 10.8 mm ( MNHN-B 10345 ) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Madagascar, off northwestern coast, trawling 46, 15°19.1’S, 46°11.8’E, 400 m.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Madagascar. Trawling 46, 15°19.1’S, 46°11.8’E, 400 m, A. Crosnier coll., 7.XI.1972, ♂ holotype ( MNHN-B 10344 ) ; 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀ paratypes ( MNHN-B 10345 ) .

La Réunion. MD 32, stn CP 60, 21°03.3’S, 55°09.5’E, 460-490 m, 1 ♂ ( MNHN-B 10527). — Stn CP 130, 20°51.2’S, 55°36.8’E, 380- 300 m, 1 ♀ ( MNHN-B 10528). — Stn DS 178, 21°03.6’S, 55°09.8’E, 412- 460 m, 1 pre-adult ( MNHN-B 10529). — Stn CP 181, 20°57.5’S, 55°14.2’E, 300-410 m, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ ( MNHN-B 10530).

DISTRIBUTION. — Southwestern Indian Ocean: Comoro Is ( Guinot 1969b, as “? P. stridulans ”), Madagascar ( Guinot 1969b, as “? P. stridulans ”; Guinot & Richer de Forges 1981b, P. aff. stridulans ; Guinot 1990, as P. crosnieri ), and la Réunion ( Guinot 1990, as P. aff. stridulans ). Depth: 300- 510 m.

REMARKS

Psopheticus crosnieri is closest to P. musicus . The outer orbital teeth of P. crosnieri are oriented outwardly and are typically much more slender and spiniform, and the anterolateral teeth similarly more slender ( Guinot 1990: figs 29, 31, 33) than in P. musicus ( Guinot 1990: figs 35, 37, 38). These characters, however, may vary among some specimens (see below). Another difference is that the P3-P5 carpi are feebly serrulated (but not to the naked eye) in P. crosnieri but smooth in P. musicus . Differences in the shape of the third maxilliped merus mentioned by Guinot in her key ( Guinot 1990: 334) were found to be unsubstantiated.

Six specimens from la Réunion, southwestern Indian Ocean, identified as Psopheticus aff. stridulans by Guinot (1990) should be placed under P. crosnieri on account of their slender outer orbital and anterolateral teeth ( Guinot 1990: fig. 2), even if the P3-P5 carpi may be armed with one or two teeth (none or one in P3, one or two in each P4 and P5; Guinot 1990: figs 7-9) but unarmed in P. crosnieri . The shape of the teeth on the carapace of Psopheticus is a much more stable character (even though not absolute, see Remarks for P. musicus below) than the ornamentation of the ambulatory legs, which may vary widely (see Remarks for P. stridulans above).