Petalomera pulchra Miers, 1884

Mclay, Colin L. & Hosie, Andrew M., 2022, The sponge crabs of Western Australia and the Northwest Shelf with descriptions of new genera and species (Crustacea: Brachyura: Dromiidae), Zootaxa 5129 (3), pp. 301-355 : 345-346

Petalomera pulchra Miers, 1884

( Fig. 30 A–C )

Petalomera pulchra Miers, 1884: 260 , pl. 27 fig. A.— Davie, 2002: 166.— McLay & Ng, 2007: 128 , figs. 8, 9.

Not Petalomera pulchra .— McLay, 1993: 166, fig. 17a–b [= Petalomera longipes Ihle, 1913 ].

Type material. Lectotype: NHM 1884.12, female 17.8 × 17.7 mm, Torres Strait.

Other material examined. WAM C13504, 53 km NE of Montebello , 19°55’S 116°36’E, 80 m, no date: 1 male 11.6 × 12.2 mm ; WAM C13550, NE Montebello Islands , 20°08’S 115°57’E, 80 m, FRV Soela, 2-12-1979: 1 male 13.5 × 15.1 mm ; WAM C13567, ENE Montebello Islands , 20°18’S 116°01’E, 60–64 m, FRV Soela, 2-12- 1979: 1 female 23.1 × 23.3 mm (also reported by McLay & Ng 2007) ; WAM C43231, Point Cloates , 73.5– 72.9 m, 22°46’29”S, 113°32’39”E to 22°46’50”S, 113°32’48”E, 24-08-2008, Ningaloo Marine Park: ovigerous female 13.8 × 14.0 mm .

Diagnosis. Carapace as long as wide, regions well-marked, surface granulate; front prominent, rostrum tridentate, lateral teeth prominent, median tooth very small; supraorbital margin eave-like, unarmed; 3 small granulated anterolateral teeth. P1 and P2 meri flattened, petaloid. Female thoracic sternal sutures ending apart between or behind P2. (For detailed description see McLay & Ng 2007).

Distribution. Indonesia, New Caledonia, northeastern Australia (Prince of Wales Channel, Torres Strait), and Western Australia; 7–86 m

Figures

FIGURE 30. Petalomera pulchra Miers, 1884, ovigerous female, 13.8 × 14.0 mm (WAM C43231): A, dorsal view; B, frontal view; C, ventral view.