Karumballichirus karumba ( Poore & Griffin, 1979 )

Dworschak, Peter C. & Anker, Arthur, 2022, Axiidea (Crustacea: Callianassidae, Callichiridae and Ctenochelidae) and Gebiidea (Upogebiidae) collected during the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey of Singapore, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 70, pp. 108-133 : 111-114

Karumballichirus karumba ( Poore & Griffin, 1979)

( Fig. 1b )

Callianassa (Callichirus) maxima — Kemp, 1915: 252, pl. 13, figs. 1–5 [not Callianassa maxima A. Milne-Edwards, 1870 ].

Callianassa karumba Poore & Griffin, 1979: 266 , figs. 30, 31.

Neocallichirus karumba . — Sakai, 1999: 101; — Sakai, 2005: 180; — Dworschak, 2008: 76, figs. 1–6 (includes extended synonymy); — Sakai, 2011a: 459; — Sakai & Türkay, 2014: 181 (key).

Neocallichirus kempi Sakai, 1999: 101 , fig. 24a–e; — Sakai, 2005: 180; — Sakai, 2011a: 459 — Sakai & Türkay, 2014: 180 (list).

Karumballichirus karumba . — Poore et al., 2019: table 1; — Robles et al., 2020: suppl. tables 1, 2.

Not N [eocallichirus] kempi . — Sakai & Türkay, 2014: 181 (key) [= Neocallichirus thalesapensis Sakai & Lheknim, 2014 ].

CMBS material. 1 female (32/7.6) ( ZRC 2018.0526 ), sta. SW117, St John’s Island , DRTech, north lagoon, 1°13.116′N 103°51.079′E, silt/sand, in burrows, yabby pump, 0–0.5 m, coll. PKL Ng, JC Mendoza , R Tan, 31 May 2013 (SS-3269); 1 female (44/9.6) ( ZRC 2018.0525 ), sta. YB188, same locality, coll. A Anker, 6 June 2013 (SS-4528) .

Description. See Dworschak (2008).

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific from India to Thailand and eastern Australia ( Dworschak, 2008).

b, c, g

a, d–f

Habitat. Firm sand bottoms near mangroves ( Dworschak, 2008); silt-sand bottoms in the intertidal zone or very shallow water, 0–0.5 m (present study).

Remarks. Dworschak (2008) synonymised Neocallichirus kempi with N. karumba . Sakai (2011a) considered both again as different species, however, his arguments are not convincing. The shape of the male first and second pleopods are subject to maturity as outlined by Dworschak (2008), whereas the differences in the telson shape are not obvious, as this character is quite variable (see Kemp, 1915: fig. 5; Poore & Griffin, 1979: fig. 30c; Sakai, 1999: fig. 24b; Dworschak, 2008: figs. 1a, 3a). A recent molecular study, however, indicates that two species are involved in what is identifiable as K. karumba , one from Singapore and a second one from Taiwan ( Robles et al., 2020), thus requiring further study.

Figures

Fig. 1. Specimens, habitus (dorsal and/or ventral views), showing colouration in life: a, Gourretia sinica Liu & Liu, 2010, female (23/5.3) (ZRC 2017.0947); b, Karumballichirus karumba (Poore & Griffin, 1979), female (32/7.6) (ZRC 2018.0526); c, Aqaballianassa brevirostris Sakai, 2002, ovigerous female (28/5.6) (ZRC 2017.0948); d, Upogebia singaporensis, new species, female holotype (16/5.4) (ZRC 2017.0951); e, f, Neogebicula johorensis, new species, male holotype (18/5.6) (ZRC 2017.0956); g, h, same, ovigerous female paratype (21/6.3) (ZRC 2017.0955); i, j, Wolffogebia phuketensis Sakai, 1982, male (37/10.3) (NHMW 26036). Not to scale. [Photographs by AA].