Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858

Wong, Kingsley J. H., Chan, Benny K. K. & Shih, Hsi-Te, 2010, Taxonomy of the sand bubbler crabs Scopimera globosa De Haan, 1835, and S. tuberculata Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Dotillidae) in East Asia, with description of a new species from the Ryukyus, Japan, Zootaxa 2345, pp. 43-59 : 47-48

Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858

( Fig. 6 )

Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson 1858: 98 ; 1907: 102.

Material examined.- Neotype for Scopimera tuberculata : male (cw 9.9 mm; cl 7.6 mm) with label “ NEOTYPE ” of CBM- ZC 4195, Scopimera globosa , 2 males, Hashikui Beach, Kushimoto, Kii Peninsula, Japan, 8 Aug. 1976, coll. S. Yamaguchi.

Remarks. The description of Scopimera tuberculata in Stimpson (1858) was too brief and it does not provide diagnostic character to differentiate S. tuberculata from most of other known species of Scopimera . Stimpson (1907) later commented that Scopimera tuberculata “differs from De Haan’s S. globosa in the character of the upper surface of the carapax and in the obliquity of the meros-joint in the outer maxillipeds”.

Koelbel (1897), using specimens from Hong Kong, suggested S. tuberculata was a junior synonym as S. globosa . Tesch (1918) examined De Haan’s type in Leiden Museum and added to the description of S. globosa , agreeing with Koelbel (1897) that Stimpson’s descriptions on S. tuberculata fell well within the intra-specific variation of S. globosa . This view has been supported by a number of authors (e.g., Parisi 1918; Kemp 1919; Sakai 1939, 1965, 1976; Ng et al. 2001, 2008). Sakai (1939) further stated that S. globosa were found in numerous locations of Japan and the variation observed only involved one species. On the contrary, unlike his previous report ( Shen 1932), Shen (1935) argued for the presence of S. tuberculata along the Chinese coasts, and Dai & Yang (1991) illustrated the G1 of the species. In the present study, we show that the old records of S. tuberculata from South China and Taiwan should be referred to S. intermedia instead. Our morphological and molecular analyses support the original identification by Tweedie (1950). Interesting enough specimens of “ S. tuberculata ” in Shen (1935) also included material from North China (nine males from Bohai Bay (= Peichihli Bay), also see Shen 1937a, b). However, without further discussion, Dai & Yang (1991) excluded the North China record, restricting the distribution of the species to only Guangdong in South China. The presence of “ S. tuberculata ” in North China, as well as the northern distributional limit of the species remains unclear. The record of “ S. tuberculata ” from Pam River, Vietnam, by Kosuge et al. (1997), are likely to be S. intermedia as well on the basis of the geographical distribution. The type specimen of S. tuberculata was lost in the great Great Chicago Fire in 1871 ( Stimpson 1907; Evans 1967; Vasile et al. 2005; Manning & Reed 2006) thus no direct comparison can be made possible. A visit to the type locality of S. tuberculata , “Simoda”, by the second author in 2007 failed to collect any specimens of Scopimera . The entire area around Port Shimoda has been urbanized and the natural beaches and sand flats have long been developed and lost. To eliminate further taxonomic confusion, we now designate a male specimen of Scopimera globosa collected from nearby Kii Peninsula in Japan (CSM-ZC 4195), deposited in Chiba Museum, as the neotype of Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858 ( Fig. 6 ). This will settle the taxonomic confusion of related species found in the associated region once and for all and contribute to stability. Through this action, Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858 becomes a subjective junior synonym of Scopimera globosa De Haan, 1835 .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Dorsal view of the neotype of Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858. A male (cw 9.9 mm, cl 7.6 mm) (CBM-ZC 4195) deposited in Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, Japan.