Allaxiopsis picteti ( Zehntner, 1894 )

Poore, Gary C. B., 2018, Burrowing lobsters mostly from shallow coastal environments in Papua New Guinea (Crustacea: Axiidea: Axiidae, Micheleidae), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 77, pp. 1-14 : 4-6

Allaxiopsis picteti ( Zehntner, 1894)

Figs 1c , 4

Paraxius picteti Zehntner, 1894: 196–199 , pl. 9 fig. 25.

? Axiopsis picteti .— Borradaile, 1903: 539.

Axiopsis (Axiopsis) picteti .— De Man, 1925: 6, 70, 92–96, pl. 7 fig. 16.

Allaxius picteti . — Sakai and de Saint Laurent, 1989: 75.— Kensley, 2003: 361, pls 5, 6.

Allaxiopsis picteti .— Sakai, 2011: 39–40.

Material examined. Papua New Guinea. Madang Province. PAPUA NIUGINI stations. S of Urembo I., outer slope, 05° 15.9' S, 145° 47.1' E, 3 m (stn PB43 ), IU-2013-1209 (male, 8.3 mm). N of Bil Bil I., 05° 17.7'S, 145° 46.9' E, 5 m (stn PB51 ), IU-2013-7014 (male, 2.5 mm) .

New Ireland Province, Kavieng lagoon, KAVIENG 2014 stations. S side of Patio I., 02° 36.2' S, 150° 31.6'E, 6–8 m (stn KB38), IU-2014- 2526 (male, 6.8 mm). NW point of Nusa I., 02° 33.9' S, 150° 46.7' E, 8–10 m (stn KS3 ), IU-2014-2041 (female, 2.0 mm) .

Australia. Western Australia, Kimberleys, Echuca Shoal , <23 m, 13° 53.781' S, 123° 53.686' E (Woodside Kimberley Survey stn 107/ K12), WAM C50773 (female, 5.5 mm) .

Type locality. Ambon, Indonesia. Diagnosis. Major cheliped, propodus with blunt tubercles on lateral and mesial faces, more prominent nearer upper margin. Minor cheliped, propodus tuberculate on lateral and mesial faces.

Supplementary description. Rostrum acute, depressed, 0.3 length of rostral base–cervical groove, with pair of erect lateral spines near apex and larger pair at base. Gastric carina difficult to differentiate; median gastric carina obsolete except near base of rostrum, with sequence of 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 teeth; submedian gastric carina obsolete, with 1 tooth anteriorly and 2 or 3 teeth posteriorly; supraocular spine oblique, not marginal; lateral gastric carina with 2 or 3 blunt teeth. Eyestalk reaching beyond end of rostrum. Antenna article 2 with small distal spine; scaphocerite 4 times as long as greatest height (lateral view), reaching third length of article 4. Major cheliped coxa–carpus unarmed; propodus upper margin 1.4 times greatest height, carinate, with 5 spines, lateral face tuberculate proximally near upper margin; fixed finger 0.5 times length of upper margin of propodus, cutting edge with 2 blunt distal teeth; dactylus cutting edge with 3 low rounded teeth in proximal half.Minor cheliped coxa–carpus unarmed; propodus upper margin 1.5 times greatest height, carinate, with 2 distal spines, lateral face with few proximal tubercles; fixed finger almost as long as upper margin of propodus, with distal teeth near tip of cutting edge; dactylus cutting edge smooth. Telson 1.4 times as wide as long at level of most anterior lateral teeth; distal margin 0.8 times telson greatest width; lateral margin with 3 teeth; distal margin straight, with 1 lateral articulating robust seta, lateral fixed spine, with median spine; face with 2 pairs of spines. Uropodal endopod 1.6 times as long as wide; anterior margin strongly lobed proximally (as rounded shoulder), otherwise concave with or without spine at midpoint, with subdistal and distal spine; posterior margin convex, with 5 spines along distal third; distal margin straight, transverse, with depressed spine at anterior end, 2 marginal spines, 1 stronger spine and another superior, at posterior end; facial rib unarmed. Uropodal exopod semicircular, 1.5 times as long as wide; anterior margin of article 1 convex, with 5 or 6 marginal teeth, 1 submarginal; posterior margin straight, with 3 distal spines set obliquely; distal margin transverse, 3 marginal spines, strong articulating spine near anterior corner; article 2 with 5 teeth along distal margin.

Colour. Carapace high red-brown; pleon with patches of greenbrown and scattered red chromatophores; antennal flagellum with alternating white and brown stripes; cheliped high blue; pereopods with transverse blue bands on major articles, otherwise white.

Distribution. Indonesia: Ambon (type locality), Kabaena I., Sulawesi (De Man, 1925); Guam; Marshall Islands; Fiji ( Kensley, 2003); Papua New Guinea: Madang, Bougainville, New Ireland; Australia, N Western Australia; 3–20 m depth.

Remarks. Kensley (2003) reported on material from Guam and included a photograph with colours similar to the one here. Kensley also reported on unpublished records of the species from Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the Marshall Islands identified by him (see USNM online database http://collections. nmnh.si.edu/search/iz/). Kensley’s record of the species from Malaysia is not on the database. The carapace, tail fan and the never-before-illustrated chelipeds are figured here.

Figures

Figure 1. Alienaxiopsis clypeata (De Man, 1888): a, b, MNHN unregistered (stn PR86). Allaxiopsis picteti (Zehntner, 1894): c, MNHN IU-2013- 1209. Axiopsis pica Kensley, 2003, MNHN IU-2013-7048: d, preserved; e, living. Axiopsis serratifrons A. Milne-Edwards, 1873: f, MNHN IU-2013-638; g, h, MNHN IU-2013-7052; i, MNHN IU-2013-7046; j, MNHN IU-2013-302. Photo credits: AA, a–c, e, g–j; TYC, f; GCBP, d.

Figure 4. Allaxiopsis picteti (Zehntner, 1894), males, MNHN IU-2013-1209: a, b, anterior carapace, dorsal and lateral views; c, telson and uropod; d, minor right cheliped. MNHN IU-2013-2526: e, major left cheliped. Scale bar = 1 mm.