Camptoplax coppingeri Miers, 1884

Manikandan, K, Megalaa, N, Valliappan, Subramanian, Nandini, K, Rani, Lourdu V, Dakshinamurthi, Senthil & Nagappan, Nagappan, 2022, Crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Seas of East and Southeast Asia Collected by the RV Hakuhō Maru (KH- 72 - 1 Cruise) 3. Sahul Shelf, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 48 (2), pp. 35-83 : 67-69

Camptoplax coppingeri Miers, 1884

( Fig. 15A–C )

Material examined. RV Hakuhō Maru KH-72-1 cruise, sta. 29, 1Ə ( CB 5.7×CL 4.5 mm), NSMT-Cr 30745.

Remarks. Davie (1993) reported a male of Camptoplax coppingeri dredged from the lagoon at the Chesterfield Reefs, Coral Sea, as the first record of the species since the original description based on two males from the Prince of Wales Channel, Torres Strait ( Miers, 1884). As a result, Davie (1993) showed that C. coppingeri properly belonged in the family Pilumnidae rather than being a goneplacid. This species is characteristic especially in the sculpture of the carapace dorsal surface ( Fig. 15A–C ); a broad transverse depression occupies about one-third of the median dorsal surface, bound anteriorly by an irregular blunt transverse ridge, which is clearly demarcated from the thickened, frontorbital margin; the posterior part of the main depression is marked by a rather raised, low blunt ridge, followed by a transverse depression along the carapace posterior margin. The front is one-third as wide as the carapace, divided into two weakly convex lobes by a small median notch; frontal dorsal surface is thickened, with median part produced posteriorly as an obtusely triangular thickening. The carapace anterolateral margin is about half the length of the posterolateral margin and armed with three teeth, of which the third is only weakly angulated and directed laterally, and the first and second are sharper and obtuse at the tips, directed obliquely forward, and the second is hardly larger than the others. The right cheliped is only slightly larger than the left in the male examined; the carpus and palm are finely reticulated for their whole outer surfaces; the upper margin of the palm is thinly crested, with fringe of short hairs. The male pleon is sevensegmented, and the G1 is typically pilumnid-type, as illustrated by Davie (1993).

Distribution. Previous records are from the Prince of Wales Channel in the Torres Strait, 12–16 m depth, and the Chesterfield Reefs in the Coral Sea, 52 m depth. The present specimen represents the first record for the Northern Territory, Australia.

Figures

Fig. 15.ɹA–C: Camptoplax coppingeri Miers, Ə (NSMT-Cr 30745; CB 5.7×CL 4.5mm) from sta. 29. D–E: Bathypilumnus pugilator (A. Milne-Edwards), Ə (NSMT-Cr 30743; CB 7.9×CL 5.9mm) from sta. 29.