Heikeopsis japonica (von Siebold, 1824)

Guinot, Danièle, 2023, A new subfamily classification of the highly diversified Dorippidae H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Dorippoidea), using morphological, molecular and palaeotonlogical data, with special emphasis on its unique female reproductive system, Zoosystema 45 (9), pp. 225-372 : 360

Heikeopsis japonica (von Siebold, 1824)

Dorippe Japonica von Siebold, 1824: 14 .

Dorippe japonica – De Haan 1841: 12. — Kaneko 1958: 331, 332, 336, pl. 15, fig. 10.

Neodorippe (Neodorippe) japonica – Morita 1977: 16, pl. 2, figs 1-4.

Heikea japonica – Umemoto & Karasawa 1998: 11, fig. 7. — Sasaki 2019: 7788.

REMARKS

Well-sculpted carapaces similar to that of the extant and iconic Heikeopsis japonica ( Figs 1 ; 19 A-D) have been recorded from the Holocene of the Umeda Formation, Osaka City (Kaneko 1958), of the ‘Reclaimed Sand’ around the Nagoya Port, Aichi Prefecture (Morita 1977) or Nanyo Formation, Aichi Prefecture (Umemoto & Karasawa 1998). It is a pity that none of the pereiopods 2 or 3 of these crabs have been preserved to check if they are long and thin as in the typical H. japonica in the living fauna.

Figures

FIG. 1. — A typical dorippid crab, Heikeopsis japonica (von Siebold, 1824), the iconic ‘samurai crab’ known in Japan as ’heike-gani’, whose carapace looks like a human face: A, the species represented by De Haan (1839: pl. 31, fig. 1, as Dorippe japonica) in Fauna Japonica: top, a female; below, chelae of a male; B, lectotype selected by Yamaguchi & Baba (1993: 300, fig. 90-A.a-2, as Heikea japonica) from type series material labelled “Types, Japan, 1823, Leg. P. H. von Siebold”, RMNH CRUS D 822 (see Fransen et al. 1997: 83); C, ♂ 25.0 × 27.3 mm, ♀ 23.5 × 26.7 mm, Japan, Chaffanjon, 174-96, E.-L. Bouvier det. 1899 Dorippe japonica, dry condition, MNHN-IU-2000-4091 (= MNHN-B4091).

FIG. 19. — Heikeopsinae n. subfam. A-D, Heikeopsis japonica (von Siebold, 1824): A, ♂ 22.5 × 24.3 mm, Japan, Tokushima, SMF 57856: habitus; B, ♀ 23.5 × 26.7 mm, Japan, Chaffanjon, MNHN-IU-2000-4091 (= MNHN-B4091): habitus; C, ♂ 25.0 × 27.3 mm, same data as B: ventral view; D, ♂ 24.2 × 25.4 mm, same data as B and C: thoracic sternum and pleon. E, F,?Heikeopsis aff. japonica, China, seas off Qingdao, ZRC 2002.0491: habitus: E, ♂ 21.9 × 24 mm; F, ♀ 23.4 × 26.4 mm.