Micippa philyra (Herbst, 1803)

Shaga, I Bevin, Priya, K, Ramar, Selvakumar, Srinidhi, S, Mohan, G Chandra, Ranganathan, Sukanya, Moulvi, S M M & Mani, Bhuvaneswari, 2023, A Small Collection of Subtidal Crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) from the Palau Islands Collected by Dredging, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 49 (1), pp. 7-42 : 12-13

Micippa philyra (Herbst, 1803)

Material examined. Inside of Gesodokkuru Reef , off Arumonogui, Babelthuap I., Palau Is., dredged, ca. 20 m in depth, dead coral and sand; 1 ovig.8 (cb 7.5×cl 9.9 mm), NSMT-Cr 30962; July 14, 1980; K. Baba leg.

Remarks. The shape of the rostrum is characteristic in each of the known Micippa species. The frontal view of the rostrum of M. philyra was finely represented by Sakai (1938, fig. 45; 1976, fig. 138a′) and Takeda et al. (2019, pl. 8 fig. E). Buitendijk (1939) well distinguished this species from the close congeners, M. thalia (Herbst, 1803) and M. platipes Rüppell, 1830 . Synonyms of these three species, four for M. philyra , seven for M. thalia and five for M. platipes , are referred to Ng et al. (2008). Griffin and Tranter (1986) recorded many specimens from Indonesian waters, the Philippines, the Gulf of Thailand and the Iranian Gulf.

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific from Japan southwards to Australia and then westwards to South Africa, from intertidal zone to the depth of about 50 m. Takeda (1973) recorded this species from the Palau Islands.