Enoplometopus debelius Holthuis, 1983

Poupin, Joseph, 2003, Reef lobsters Enoplometopus A. Milne Edwards, 1862 from French Polynesia, with a brief revision of the genus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Enoplometopidae), Zoosystema 25 (4), pp. 643-664 : 657-658

Enoplometopus debelius Holthuis, 1983

Enoplometopus (Enoplometopus) debelius Holthuis, 1983: 283 (type locality: Hawaii; paratype from Indonesia).

Enoplometopus debelius – de Saint Laurent 1988: 61 (list). — Allen & Steene 1994: 145 (photograph). — Gosliner et al. 1996: 219 ( Indonesia). — Chan 1998: 998, 999 (western Pacific). — Chan & Yu 1998: 190 (key). — Hoover 1998: 240 (Hawaii). — Debelius 1999: 200, 204 ( Indonesia).

? Enoplometopus occidentalis – Kubo 1952: 97 ( Japan) (not Enoplometopus occidentalis ( Randall, 1840) , probably E. debelius ).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — New Caledonia. Loyalty Islands, Ouvéa, “île haute”, dive at 11 m, 19.XI.1991, coll. J.-L. Menou, 1 ♀ juv. cl 12 mm, bl 38 mm ( MNHN As 576).

DISTRIBUTION. — Indonesia; New Caledonia (Loyalty Islands);? Japan ( Kii peninsula); Hawaii. Depths: 11- 25 m. On rocky bottoms.

DIAGNOSIS. — Lateral margin of rostrum with three spines. Carapace armed with four median, one postcervical, two intermediate, one supraocular, and three lateral spines. Chela broad and compressed, 3.0 times as long as wide; upper and lower faces of palm with scattered granules including median row of slightly larger granules. Outer margin of dactyl with two or three spines on distal part and unarmed or with low blunt tubercles on proximal part. Pleura of abdominal somites II-V rounded or bluntly pointed. Posterior margin of sixth abdominal tergite unarmed. Distal margin of male first pleopod straight, without deep indentation. Telson with one lateral and three distolateral spines, posteriormost spine largest.

COLORATION

Carapace and abdomen whitish or very pale purple with numerous purplish red spots. Palm of chela purplish, with white at tip of spines; fingers banded in white and orange. Ambulatory legs orange with one or two narrow white bands, proximally only ( Holthuis 1983).