Paramunida longior Baba, 1988

Cabezas, P. E., 2010, Taxonomic revision of the genus Paramunida Baba, 1988 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Galatheidae): a morphological and molecular approach, Zootaxa 2712, pp. 1-60 : 25-26

Paramunida longior Baba, 1988

( Figs. 13G, 17D, E)

Paramunida longior Baba, 1988: 177 , fig. 73 ( Moluccas off W coast of Halmahera and South China Sea off SW Luzon, 340–485 m). — Macpherson 1993: 454, figs 3, 13 ( New Caledonia and Indonesia, 250–502 m). — Komai 2000: 360 (list). — Macpherson 2000: 2004: 287 ( Fiji and Tonga, 384–520 m). — Baba 2005: 302 (key, synonymies). — Baba et al. 2008: 173 (list of occurrences).

Material examined. New Caledonia. MUSORSTOM 4. Stn 173, 19°02.50’S, 163°18.80’E, 17 September

October 1985, 415– 435 m: 3 M 7.9–8.2 mm, 4 ov. F 8.2–8.7 mm, 1 F 7.4 mm. BATHUS 2, Stn CP 742, 22°33.45'S, 166°25.86'E, 13 May 1993, 340– 470 m: 4 M 8.1–9.6 mm, 5 ov. F 8.2–9.3 mm, 2 F 7.7–8.2 mm. HALIPRO 1. Stn. CP 864, 21°29' S, 166°19' E, 22 March 1994, 430 m: 5 M 8.9–9.7 mm (one specimen with broken carapace), 1 ov. F 11.4 mm, 2 F 7.7–9.4 mm.

Solomon Islands. SALOMON 2, Stn CP 2199, 7º43.3’S, 158º29.6’E, 25 October 2004, 296– 304 m: 1 ov. F 10.6 mm. — Stn CP 2272, 8º32.12’S, 157º44.38’E, 05 November 2004, 380– 537 m: 2 M 7.9–9.8 mm, 1 ov. F 8.3 mm, 1 F 8.1 mm .

Fiji. BORDAU 1 , Stn CP 1505, 18°12,29'S, 178°37,34'W, 13 March 1999, 420– 450 m: 1 M 10.2 mm (specimen P. aff. longior , possible new species) .

Tonga. BORDAU 2 , Stn CP 1511, 21°08'S, 175°22'W, 31 May 2000, 384– 402 m: 1 M 10.3 mm, 8 ov. F 7.8–10.1 mm .

Diagnosis. Rostrum triangular, larger than supraocular spines, without thin dorsal longitudinal carina, margin between rostral and supraocular spines straight or slightly concave. Spinules on gastric and hepatic regions usually not forming groups, lacking scaly striae and with few short uniramous setae. Mesogastric and cardiac regions without median row of spines. Thoracic sternites 4– 5 with few arcuate striae; sternites 6–7 smooth. Lateral margin of antennular segment 1 with distal slender portion about half as long as proximal inflated portion. Anterior prolongation of antennal segment 1 slightly overreaching antennular segment 1; segment 2 about 1.5 times length of segment 3 and nearly twice longer than wide, distomesial spine spiniform, slightly overreaching antennal peduncle; segment 3 nearly three times longer than wide and unarmed. Base of P1 carpus without bundle of setae. P2 propodus 23–24 times as long as high, and 1.9–2.0 times dactylus length.

Remarks. The present material agrees quite well with the original description and illustrations ( Baba 1988), as well as the additional illustrations of the holotype ( Fig. 17E) kindly provided by K. Baba. However, in the present material the distomesial spine of the antennal segment 2 is slightly smaller than in the types. It will be interesting to collect additional topotypic material in order to confirm the constancy of this difference. The male collected in Fiji (BORDAU 1, Stn CP 1505) is genetically very different from the other specimens (1.99% divergence in 16S rRNA and 7.39% in ND1), suggesting the existence of a different species. Unfortunately this specimen is seriously damaged, preventing an adequate description.

Paramunida longior is closely related to those species having very long and slender walking legs, e.g. P. curvata , P. setigera and P.tenera . However, P. longior has the supraocular spines shorter than the rostral spine instead of subequal to or larger than the rostral spines. The P2–4 propodi are particularly slender in P. longior , whereas they are less slender in the other species (20 times versus 7–14 times as long as high). The genetic divergences between P. longior and the other species were always larger than 6% (16S rRNA) and 12% (ND1).

Distribution. Moluccas off W coast of Halmahera and South China Sea off SW Luzon, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Solomon Islands, between 250 and 537 m.