Epigodromia areolata ( Ihle, 1913 )

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 : 324

Epigodromia areolata ( Ihle, 1913)

( Figs. 15 , 16 )

Cryptodromia areolata Ihle, 1913: 47 , pl. 2 figs 10–11.— Sakai, 1965: 8, pl. 3 fig 4; 1976: 17, pl. 4 fig 2.— Campbell, 1971: 29.— Serene & Lohavanijaya, 1973: 18, fig 5–7, pl. IIA.

Epigodromia areolata .— McLay, 1993: 217, fig. 19e–f; 1998: 347.— Davie, 2002: 163.

Type material. Holotype: male 10.0 × 10.0 mm approx. (repository not known, not examined), from the south coast of Timor , Indonesia, 112 m, Siboga Station 289 (see Ihle 1913: 47).

Material examined. Western Australia: WAM C17367, SW of Cervantes , 30°35.50’S, 114°35.00’E, 110 m, 23-03-1972: ovig. female 8.2 × 8.1 mm; WAM C17621, Rottnest Island , 32°02.00’S, 115°22’E, 44 m: ovig. female 18.8 × 18.6 mm; WAM C17349, Geraldton , 31°43’S, 115°6.80’E, 106 m, 22-03-1972: ovig. female 12.0 × 11.0 mm; WAM C40544, Ningaloo Marine Park, off Mandu Sanctuary , 87.9– 81.2 m, 22°9’26”S, 113°48’02”E, 22°10’07”S, 113°48’19”E, 22-04-2006: female 7.7 × 7.5 mm . Queensland: WAM C50514,? Queensland, 164 m, coll. W. Goode, 1965: female 10.6 × 10.7 mm, male 16.0 × 14.0 mm .

Remarks. A notable feature of Epigodromia areolata is the sexual dimorphism. Males have much more pronounced ornamentation of the carapace and chelipeds than in females, and the chelipeds are much larger ( Figs. 15 , 16 ). The present specimens represent new records for Western Australia and the Indian Ocean coast of Australia, having been previously reported from Cape Moreton, Queensland ( Campbell 1971).

Distribution. Japan, South China Sea, Timor (type locality), New Caledonia and Australia. Depth 30– 350 m.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Epigodromia areolata (Ihle, 1913), ovigerous female, 10.6 × 10.7 mm (WAM-C50514):A, dorsal view; B, frontal view; C, ventral view.

FIGURE 16. Epigodromia areolata (Ihle, 1913), male, 16.0 × 14.0 mm (WAM-C50514): A, dorsal view; B, frontal view; C, ventral view.