Eiconaxius asper Rathbun, 1906

Poore, Gary C. B. & Dworschak, Peter C., 2018, The Eiconaxius cristagalli species complex (Decapoda, Axiidea, Axiidae), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 77, pp. 105-120 : 108

Eiconaxius asper Rathbun, 1906

Eiconaxius asper Rathbun, 1906: 895 , fig. 52. – Sakai and de Saint Laurent, 1989: 22. – Kensley, 1996: 475. – Sakai, 2011: 273.

Iconaxius asper . – Balss, 1925: 209.

Axius (Eiconaxius) asper . – De Man, 1925: 4, 14, 34.

Diagnosis. Median carina erect, with clear dentition. Major cheliped, palm wider distally than at midpoint. Major cheliped, palm lateral and mesial faces tuberculate near base of fingers; distolateral margin with 1 or 2 teeth in gape but without a deep notch; fixed finger about half as long as upper margin of palm, cutting with basal notch, blade-like proximal half, and distal concavity; dactylus cutting edge with basal molar-like tooth, notch and straight beyond. Minor cheliped, palm lateral and mesial faces tuberculate near base of fingers.

Distribution. Hawaii, Kauai I., 418–628 fm (765–1149 m) (known only from type locality).

Remarks. Rathbun (1906) remarked that the species resembled E. cristagalli in having the median carina denticulate but differed in the ‘presence of a larger basal tooth on dactylus of larger hand and a more prominent tooth not far from middle of the pollex [fixed finger]’. She illustrated only the larger cheliped where these differences are unconvincing compared to Faxon’s (1895) figures of a type or Kensley’s (1996) figure of E. cristagalli from the Galapagos. Without examining the types we are unsure of the status of this species. It is omitted from the key.