Ebalia tuberculosa (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873 )

Ahyong, Shane T., 2008, Deepwater crabs from seamounts and chemosynthetic habitats off eastern New Zealand (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura), Zootaxa 1708 (1), pp. 1-72 : 38-40

Ebalia tuberculosa (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873)

( Figs 17C–D )

Persephona tuberculosa A. Milne-Edwards, 1873: 10 , 86 [type locality: Bass Strait , Australia].

Phlyxia granulosa Haswell, 1879: 54 , pl. 6: fig. 3 [type locality: outside Sydney Heads , New South Wales, Australia].

Ebalia salamensis Doflein, 1904: 47 , pl. 26: figs 1–3 [type locality: off Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, east Africa ]

Nursia scandens Stebbing, 1920: 247 , pl.106a [type locality: Cove Rock , South Africa].

Nursia postulans Stebbing, 1921: 461 , pl. 108 [type locality: Cape Natal , South Africa].

Ebalia japonica Rathbun, 1932: 37 [type locality: off Niigata Light , Japan].

Ebalia tuberculosa . — Miers 1885: 587; 1886: 305–306, pl. 25: fig. 1. — Bennett 1964: 9, 22. — Dell 1968a: 22; 1968c: 235, 238. — Davie 2002: 260. — Poore 2004: 336, fig. 98e.

Ebalia (Ebalia) tuberculosa . — Griffin 1972: 57–58.

Material examined. Tumokemoke Seamount: NIWA 6751 , 4 males (cl 8.4–9.9 mm), 2 ovigerous females (cl 7.3–7.5 mm), 37°28.19–28.15’S, 176°55.15–54.94’E, 240– 212 m, TAN0413/166, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6752 , 3 males (cl 8.6–9.5 mm), 1 female (cl 8.5 mm), 37°28.02–28.13’S, 176°55.13–54.98’E, 232– 218 m, TAN0413/161, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6753 , 1 male (cl 8.8 mm), 37°27.69–27.87’S, 176°54.81–54.85’E, 294– 247 m, TAN0413/170, 16 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6745 , 4 males (cl 7.6–10.1 mm), 1 ovigerous female (cl 8.4 mm), 37°28.36–28.22’S, 176°55.13–54.97’E, 260– 219 m, TAN0413/152, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6746 , 1 male (cl 10.1 mm), 37°28.27–28.20’S, 176°55.21–55.07’E, 262– 230 m, TAN0413/162, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6747 , 1 female (cl 7.0 mm), 37°28.04–28.11’S, 176°55.79–55.58’E, 315– 283 m, TAN0413/163, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6748 , 6 males (cl 7.2–9.2 mm), 4 females (cl 7.1–8.4 mm), 37°28.00–28.16’S, 176°54.91–54.87’E, 225– 210 m, TAN0413/164, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6749 , 2 males (cl 6.7–9.0 mm), 37°28.19–28.15’S, 176°55.15– 54.94’E, 240– 212 m, TAN0413/166, 15 Nov 2004 ; NIWA 6750 , 2 males (cl 6.9–7.1 mm), 2 ovigerous females (cl 7.3–7.5 mm), 37°28.19–28.15’S, 176°55.15–54.94’E, 240– 212 m, TAN0413/166, 15 Nov 2004 .

Tuatoru Seamount: NIWA 6743, 1 ovigerous female (cl 7.3 mm), 37°28.30–28.49’S, 177°13.49–13.24’E, 218–220 m, TAN0413/84, 12 Nov 2004.

Rungapapa Seamount: NIWA 6744 , 1 male (cl 6.2 mm, 37°32.03–32.36’S, 176°58.80–58.88’E, 219– 176 m, TAN0413/101, 13 Nov 2004.

Remarks. The most significant morphological variations are the result of sexual dimorphism. The dorsal gastric and cardiac tubercles of males are blunt but prominent (obsolete in females), the posterior carapace margin bears two prominent projections, and the chelipeds of mature males are proportionally longer (merus as long as cl versus about half cl in females). The posterior carapace projections in females are apparently fused, forming a straight to faintly convex margin, an artefact of the swollen abdomen ( Fig. 17C–D ).

Distribution. South Africa to the Hawaiian Islands including southern Australia and New Zealand, from the Challenger Plateau and seamounts in the Bay of Plenty; 28–800 m ( Poore 2004).

Figures

FIGURE 17. A–B, Bellidilia cheesmani (Filhol, 1886): A, male, cl 9.3 mm (NIWA 6758); B, ovigerous female, cl 8.8 mm, NIWA 6755. C–D, Ebalia tuberculosa (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873): C, male, cl 9.5 mm (NIWA 6752); D, female, cl 8.5 mm (NIWA 6752). E, Chaceon yaldwyni Manning, Dawson & Webber, 1990, male, cl 55.2 mm (NIWA 6716).