Naxioides hirta A. Milne-Edwards, 1865

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 : 11

Naxioides hirta A. Milne-Edwards, 1865

( Fig. 1D )

Material examined. Off Kwannon , Koror I., Palau Is., dredged; 1 ♂ (cb 17.0 mm excluding branchial spines×pcl 25.2 mm including posterior tubercle; rl 10.5 mm), NSMT-Cr 30958; June 17, 1980; K. Baba leg.

Remarks. The records of this species are not so many, but there is no doubt for its identification as Naxioides hirta due to the good representations by the original author (A. Milne-Edwards, 1865) and some later authors such as Hilgendorf (1879, as Podopisa petersii ), Sakai (1938), and Takeda et al. (2019). The pear-shaped carapace ( Fig. 1D ) with many granules of various sizes and a sharp epibranchial spine at each side suggests some Hyastenus species, but the anterior part of the carapace is fairly strongly deflexed and each rostral spine is armed with a subsidiary spine at its dorsal median surface, which is not a character diagnostic to Hyastenus . The inwardly curved tip of the rostral spine also characterizes this species.

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific from Japan to the western Indian Ocean through Asian waters, with 15–35 m in depth. New to the Palau Islands.

Figures

Fig. 1. A–C: Thusaenys calvarius (Alcock), ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30959; cb 6.7×pcl 10.5mm excluding posterior tubercle). D: Naxioides hirta A. Milne-Edwards, ♂ (NSMT-Cr 30958; cb 17.0mm excluding branchial spines× pcl 25.2mm including posterior tubercle). E: Hyastenus sebae White, ♀ (NSMT-Cr 30957; cb 10.5×pcl 13.8mm).