Grapsus rudis H. Milne Edwards, 1837

(Fig. 5E)

Grapse rude H. Milne Edwards, 1837: 86, 87.

Grapsus rudis – H. Milne Edwards 1853: 134 [168]. — Gibbes 1850: 17.

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Junior subjective synonym of Grapsus tenuicrustatus (Herbst, 1783) (see Rathbun 1906: 838).

HOLOTYPE (by monotypy, see Castro 2011: 114). — MNHN-IU-2000-10875 (= MNHN-B10875), ♂ 47.5 × 49.8 mm, Sandwich Islands [Hawaiian Is.], coll. Quoy & Gaimard. — Original label: “ Grapsus rudis Edw., Iles Sandwich, MM. Quoy & Gaimard”.

PRESERVATION. — Dry. Carapace stuck with elderberry stub onto cardboard; hairline cracks on the intestinal/branchial regions; RP5, LP 3 missing,

REMARKS

Henri Milne Edwards (1837: 86, 87) briefly described a new species for a single specimen that was “brought from the Sandwich Islands [the Hawaiian Islands] by Quoy & Gaimard”, in writing “GRAPSE RUDE” (i.e., written in small capital letters), not followed in this case by a Latin nomen. Later, H. Milne Edwards (1853: 134 [168]) used the Latin nomen Grapsus rudis . The French name GRAPSE RUDE, not “used for general purposes”, is not a vernacular name (see Kottelat 2001). Gibbes (1850: 17) had latinised the name for the first time but, since several carcinologists (Rathbun 1906: 838; Banerjee 1960: 134; Paul’son 1875: 68 [reprinted 1961: 74]; Ng et al. 2008: 217) including Gibbes himself (1850) have attributed the taxon to H. Milne Edwards, it is clear that the authorship of H. Milne Edwards with the date 1837 can be retained for Grapsus rudis (Code, Art. 50.1.1).

The MNHN collection contains one specimen, a male labelled “ Grapsus rudis, Sandwich Islands, Quoy & Gaimard ” with the mention “Type” on the back of the cardboard box (MNHN-B10875). Castro (2011: 114) in his catalogue of Brachyura from the Hawaiian Islands regarded it as the holotype of G. rudis, actually a holotype by monotypy.

Presently, G. rudis is regarded as a junior synonym of G. tenuicrustatus (Herbst, 1783) (Rathbun 1906: 838; Banerjee 1960: 134; Griffin 1973: 423; Ng et al. 2008: 217; Castro 2011: 114). Griffin (1973: 423) stated that the Grapsus pictus of Quoy & Gaimard (1824: 523, pl. 76, fig. 2) from Guam was synonym of Grapsus rudis, itself a synonym of Grapsus tenuicrustatus, as previously stated by several authors, notably Banerjee (1960: 143) (see under Grapsus pictus).