Vitjazmaia latidactyla Zarenkov, 1994

Ahyong, Shane T., 2008, Deepwater crabs from seamounts and chemosynthetic habitats off eastern New Zealand (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura), Zootaxa 1708 (1), pp. 1-72 : 37-38

Vitjazmaia latidactyla Zarenkov, 1994

( Fig. 16E )

Ewdawsonia profundorum Webber & Richer de Forges in Thompson, 1994: 168 [nomena nuda; inadvertent publication of manuscript names].

Vitjazmaia latidactyla Zarenkov, 1994: 121 , figs 1B, 13B [type locality: Madagascar Ridge, 33°03’S, 44°33’E, 970–980 m]. — Webber & Richer de Forges 1995: 503, figs 1–3, 4A. — Naylor et al. 2005: 21–22. — Ahyong et al. 2007: 152.

Platymaia sp. — Clark & O’Shea 2001: 15.

Material examined. Mercury Knoll: NIWA 16800 , 1 ovigerous female (cl 72.0 mm), 36°30.37–29.59’S, 176°30.97’E, 920–1053 m, KAH9907/51, 5 Jun 1999 .

Rungapapa Seamount: NIWA 6759 , 1 male (cl + 41 mm), 37°33.22–33.18’S, 176°58.13–58.41’E, 190– 154 m, TAN0413/118, 13 Nov 2004 .

Ritchie Hill: NIWA 16798 , 1 ovigerous female (cl 78.0 mm), 39°28.56–27.69’S, 178°25.29–26.05’E, 874–914 m, KAH9907/38, 3 Jun 1999 .

Remarks. Webber & Richer de Forges (1995) reported V. latidactyla from numerous New Zealand localities (Chatham Rise and Challenger Plateau northwards) including Aotea Seamount (37°34’S, 172°05’E). Note that the unpublished manuscript name, Ewdawsonia profundorum Webber & Richer de Forges , was inadvertently used by Thompson (1994), rendering the name a nomen nudum. The history of Ewdawsonia profundorum is discussed by Webber & Richer de Forges (1995) under their account of Vitjazmaia .

Of the known deepwater New Zealand inachids, species of Vitjazmaia Zarenkov, 1994 , Cyrtomaia Miers, 1886 , and Platymaia Miers, 1886 , are similar in their subglobular carapace and long ambulatory pereopods. Vitjazmaia resembles Platymaia and differs from Cyrtomaia in the flattened, rather than subcylindrical P3–5, and is easily distinguished from both by the dense covering of minute spinules over the entire surface of the carapace and pereopods ( Fig. 16E ). Species of Platymaia and Cyrtomaia bear prominent, isolated spines on the carapace and pereopods, but the overall surfaces are smooth or granular.

Distribution. Western Indian Ocean, southern Australia, and New Zealand from the Challenger Plateau and Chatham Rise north to the Wanganella Bank; 154–1300 m (Ahyong et al. 2007; this study).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Carapace. A, Cyrtomaia cornuta Richer de Forges & Guinot, 1995, male, cl 46.9 mm (NIWA 14182), dorsal view. B–C, Dorhynchus ramusculus (Baker, 1906), male, cl 13.3 mm (NIWA 9941), right lateral and dorsal views. D, Platymaia maoria Dell, 1963, ovigerous female, cl 55.8 mm (NIWA 14191). E, Vitjazmaia latidactyla Zarenkov, 1994, ovigerous female, cl 72.0 mm (NIWA 16800).