Metopograpsus miniatus Saussure, 1858

Ng, Ngan Kee, Rodríguez Moreno, Paula A., Naruse, Tohru, Guinot, Danièle & Mollaret, Noémy, 2019, Annotated type-catalogue of Brachyura (Crustacea, Decapoda) of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Part II. Gecarcinidae and Grapsidae (Thoracotremata, Grapsoidea), with an Appendix of pre- 1900 collectors, Zoosystema 41 (7), pp. 91-130 : 116

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5252/zoosystema2019v41a7
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:65E3A0BD-2AAD-4E12-9CB0-73C974BFCE65
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3729597
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EEDE4B-FFFD-FFA5-EC90-FE0DB205FE57
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Metopograpsus miniatus Saussure, 1858
status

Treatment

Metopograpsus miniatus Saussure, 1858 View in CoL

( Fig. 7D View FIG )

Metopograpsus miniatus Saussure, 1858a: 444 View in CoL , pl. 2, fig. 17, 17a-c; 1858b: 28, pl. 2, fig. 17, 17a-c.

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Junior subjective synonym of Pachygrapsus transversus ( Gibbes, 1850) ( Poupin et al. 2005: 44) View in CoL .

LECTOTYPE (by inference of holotype by Türkay 1974c). — MHNG, ♂, St Thomas , Virgin Is.

PRESERVATION OF THE LECTOTYPE. — Carapace with sides distended by a bopyrid (see below); RP2-3, 5 and LP2-4 missing.

PARALECTOTYPE. — MNHN-IU-2000-10994 (= MNHN-B10994), 1♂ 10.4 × 14.2 mm, Saint Thomas, coll. M. de Saussure. — Original label: “ Metopograpsus miniatus Saussure, St Thomas, M. de Saussure ” .

PRESERVATION OF THE PARALECTOTYPE. — Dry. Left side distended by a parasite. RP1-2, RP5 missing, RP3, 4 detached.

REMARKS

Saussure (1858a: 444, pl. 2, fig. 17, 17a-c) described a crab collected from St Thomas, Virgin Is., measuring 12.0 × 16.0 mm as Metopograpsus miniatus , but did not explicitly mention how many specimens he had examined. Rathbun (1918: 244, 245), who synonymised M. miniatus with Pachygrapsus transversus , wrote that the type of M. miniatus was deposited at the MHNG and “its sides [carapace] are distended by a parasite, one side more than the other”. She probably received this information from Zehntner, the Swiss scientist who took care of the MHNG collections at the end of the 19th century (see Appendix). In his paper on the Grapsidae deposited in the MHNG, Türkay (1974c: 142, figs 1, 2, pl. 1, figs 1, 2) regarded this specimen, a male, as holotype of M. miniatus ; he figured the G1 and provided a note written on a label by Zehntner signaling the presence of a parasite on the branchial regions. The holotype photographed by Türkay (1974c: 143, pl. 1, figs 1, 2) shows a slightly swollen left branchial region, while neither the description nor the figure of Saussure (1858a: 444, pl. 2, fig. 17) indicates the presence of a parasite deforming the carapace.

In assuming a holotype rather than selecting a lectotype, Türkay (1974c: 142, 143) proceeded as though other syntypes did not existed. But we have found supplementary material, a male MNHN-IU-2000-10994 (= MNHN-B10994), collected by Saussure from St Thomas, presumably at the same time, as confirmed by the mention in the CAA of an exchange between Saussure and the MNHN in 1858, corresponding to the entry “262.58”. This specimen likewise shows a deformation of the carapace. The fact that both specimens are similarly parasitised may be an indication that they should be from the same lot and, presumably, they belong to the syntype series, despite there being no indication of swelling on the carapace in Saussure’s paper. It is reasonable to expect that the original description was based on more than one specimen. Therefore, Türkay (1974c), who published the assumption that the species-group taxon was based upon a single type specimen in recognising a holotype, is deemed to have designated that specimen as the lectotype (Code, Art 74.6). The male MNHN-IU-2000-10994 (= MNHN-B10994) may be considered a paralectotype. It is also the case with Metopograpsus gracilis Saussure, 1858 , also from Saint Thomas (see above).