Lamoha superciliosa (Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891)

Ng, Peter K. L. & Forges, Bertrand Richer de, 2017, On a collection of Homolidae from the South China Sea, with descriptions of two new species of Homologenus A. Milne-Edwards, in Henderson, 1888, and the identities of Homologenus malayensis Ihle, 1912, and Lamoha superciliosa (Wood-Mason, in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 65, pp. 243-268 : 244-245

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5356049
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CC246EF9-E704-4DDC-BD25-61B6102A382F
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AA02C863-316A-FFC0-FEF7-5233FBD8FADE
treatment provided by	Valdenar
scientific name	Lamoha superciliosa
status

Treatment

Lamoha superciliosa View in CoL (Wood-Mason, in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891)

( Figs. 1 View Fig , 2 View Fig , 5E, F View Fig , 6H View Fig , 7G, H View Fig )

Hypsophrys superciliosa Wood-Mason , in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891: 269. – Alcock & Anderson, 1895: pl. 14 fig. 4, 4a. – Alcock, 1900: 14; 1901: 67, pl. 6 fig. 24. – Bouvier, 1896: 32. – Van Straelen: 1928: 19. – Gordon, 1950: 220, 224. – Williams, 1974: 485. – Williams, 1976: 889. – Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1981: 543. – Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1995: 445, figs. 56c–e, 61i. – Ng, 1998: 121. – Ng et al., 2008: 40. – Huys et al., 2014: 27.

Material examined. 1 male (11.8 × 9.9 mm) ( OUMNH 2008-09 - 0039 ), Laccadive Sea , 12°5′35′′N 71°35′50′′E, India, 1580–1610 m, coll. 1894, from Indian Museum GoogleMaps . – 1 female (15.6 × 13.0 mm) ( USNM 42696 About USNM ), station 192, Arabian Sea , 15°11′N 72°28′45′′E, 1668–1703 m, coll. RIMSS Investigator GoogleMaps .

Remarks. Wood-Mason (in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891: 269) described Hypsophrys superciliosa from INVESTIGATOR station 105 in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean (off Goa, India: 15°2′N 73°34′E) from a depth of 1353 m. He observed that he had “Four specimens, two males and two females, of which only one pair is in good order” and he provided measurements for the intact male (16.3 × 13.3 mm) and female (20.5 × 17.0 mm) (Wood-Mason, in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891: 270). The current depository of the material is not known but presumably in the Indian Museum. Guinot & Richer de Forges (1995: 445) examined an ovigerous female from the Maldives. The present OUMNH specimen was obtained from the area between the Laccadive Sea and Arabian Sea, the geographical co-ordinates being quite close to the type locality, but it is not a syntype. The present USNM specimen is from the Arabian Sea but it is from a different station and as such, cannot be a syntype as well.

The OUMNH specimen agrees well with the original figure of the type ( Fig. 1C, D View Fig ; Alcock & Anderson, 1895: pl. 14 fig. 4, 4a) as well as Alcock (1901: pl. 6 fig. 24) ( Fig. 1A, B View Fig ) in most respects, except that the subhepatic region has only a distinct spine with one sharp granule posterior to it ( Figs. 5E View Fig , 7G View Fig ) rather than with two distinct spines (cf. Alcock & Anderson, 1895: pl. 14 fig. 4; Guinot & Richer de Forges, 1995: fig. 56c, d). The USNM specimen on the other hand, possesses two distinct spines on the subhepatic region ( Figs. 5F View Fig , 7H View Fig ). The proportions and armature of the P2–P4 of both specimens ( Fig. 2 View Fig ) agree well with the original figures ( Fig. 1 View Fig ).

The records of “ Lamoha superciliosa ” from the South China Sea and Taiwan by Serène & Lohavanijaya (1973), Richer de Forges & Ng (2008) and Ahyong et al. (2009) are all here regarded as belonging to L. longirostris . On the basis of the good series of specimens of L. longirostris we have examined from various parts of the Pacific, we now know that the two primary characters used by Guinot & Richer de Forges (1995) and Richer de Forges & Ng (2008) to separate the two species – the number of subhepatic spines (one or two) and the armature of the supraorbital margin (with one or no spine) are variable (see remarks for next species). Richer de Forges & Ng (2008) also commented that the black spot on the cheliped is longer in L. longirostris compared to L. superciliosa from the South China Sea and Taiwan, but we now find that this character varies as well. The only characters that appear to separate L. superciliosa s. str. from L. longirostris is the general form of the carapace and ambulatory legs. In L. superciliosa s. str., the carapace is relatively more quadrate ( Figs. 2A, B View Fig , 5E, F View Fig ) (carapace slightly more subovate with the lateral margins usually more converging in L. longirostris , Figs. 3, 4A, B View Fig , 5A–D View Fig ); the gastric regions are relatively smoother ( Figs. 1A, B View Fig , 5E, F View Fig ) (gastric regions more uneven, with low swellings and some low tubercles in L. longirostris , Figs. 3, 4A, B View Fig , 5A–D View Fig ); and more importantly, the P2–P4 dactylus is proportionately longer and more slender ( Fig. 2A, B, G, H View Fig ) (relatively shorter and stouter in L. longirostris , Figs. 3, 4 View Fig ). The proportions of the ambulatory dactylus are surprisingly constant regardless of sex or size, being always relatively shorter and stouter in the good series of L. longirostris examined here. The relatively longer and more slender dactylus of L. superciliosa s. str. is also evident even in the female figured by Guinot & Richer de Forges (1995: fig. 56c) from the Maldives. The G1 ( Fig. 2C, D View Fig ) and G2 ( Fig. 2E View Fig ) structures of L. superciliosa are almost identical to those figured for L. longirostris by Ng & Chen (1999: figs. 1j, k, 2a, b).

Lamoha superciliosa s. str. is known from few specimens and while it is clearly close to L. longirostris , their geographical separation (the former is only known from the eastern Indian Ocean while the latter only from the West Pacific) and the distinctiveness of the ambulatory dactyli indicate that both are separate species.