Axiopsis serratifrons (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873 )

Poore, Gary C. B. & Collins, David J., 2009, Australian Axiidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Axiidea), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 66 (2), pp. 221-287 : 241

Axiopsis serratifrons (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873)

Limited synonymy. Axia [sic.] serratifrons A. Milne-Edwards, 1873: 263 , pl. 13.

Axiopsis (Axiopsis) serratifrons . — De Man, 1925b: 68, 72–80, pl. 6 figs. 12–12i.

Axiopsis serratifrons . — Sakai and de Saint Laurent, 1989: 76–77.—Ngoc-Ho, 2005: 53, fig. 3.— Komai and Tachikawa, 2008: 20–22, fig. 1 (synonyms).

? Axiopsis (Axiopsis) consobrina . — Poore and Griffin, 1979: 230–232, fig. 4.

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific, Caribbean, Brazil; Qld, Gulf of Carpentaria.

Remarks. Milne-Edwards (1873) reported his species from Upolu, Samoa (specimen now in Zoological Museum, Hamburg) and Hawaii (specimen now in Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris), the latter being assumed by some to be the type locality ( Kensley, 1981; Sakai and de Saint Laurent, 1989). De Man (1925b) described the “cotype” from Upolu and illustrated marked tuberculation on the lateral face of the propodus of the cheliped. Ngoc-Ho (2005) redescribed what she called the “ holotype ” from Hawaii with this face being smooth. It is possible that more than one species is involved which is significant because the species has been reported many times and has at least two synonyms ( Kensley, 1981; Sakai and de Saint Laurent, 1989; Komai and Tachikawa, 2008). No lectotype has been selected and Ngoc-Ho’s use of “ holotype ” does not constitute lectotype designation (ICZN 74.7).

The Australian record of A. consobrina ( Poore and Griffin, 1979) is another species (M. de Saint Laurent, pers. comm., 1990), potentially A. serratifrons . The material has not been re-examined for this study. Until the identity (or identities) of this widespread species is decided, A. serratifrons is best distinguished from other Australian species of Axiopsis by the absence of a spine on the upper margin of the merus and the numerous tubercles that ornament the space between the denticulate median and submedian gastric carinae.