Munidopsis marionis (A. Milne­Edwards, 1882)

Macpherson, Enrique & Segonzac, Michel, 2005, Species of the genus Munidopsis (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) from the deep Atlantic Ocean, including cold-seep and hydrothermal vent areas, Zootaxa 1095 (1), pp. 1-60 : 37

Munidopsis marionis (A. Milne­Edwards, 1882)

Galathodes Marionis A. Milne­Edwards, 1882: 17 ; 1883: pl. 15, fig. 2 (ed. 1997, p. 81).

Orophorhynchus Marionis. —A. Milne­Edwards & Bouvier, 1894: 198, 287, 325; 1900: 340, pl. 331: figs 14–16.

Munidopsis marionis .— Doflein & Balss, 1913: 177 (list).— Bouvier, 1922: 175, pl. 6: fig. 5.—Zariquiey­Alvarez, 1968: 269.— Carpine, 1970: 54, 101, 134.— Fredj, 1974: 34.— Galil & Goren, 1994: 45, figs 3, 4a, b.— Froglia et al. 2002: 380.

Material examined. Oriental Mediterranean Sea, MEDINAUT, Stn MN10 ­BT1, 35º26’N, 30º33.30’E, 1700 m, 01.11.1998: 1 male (broken), 2 females 3.4–4.3 mm .

Remarks. The species was originally known from a few specimens, all collected in the Mediterranean Sea (type locality: Planier Island, near Marseille, northwestern Mediterranean, 450 m). Galil & Goren (1994) redescribed the species from specimens collected in the eastern Mediterranean. Munidopsis marionis belongs to the group of species having the dorsal surface of the carapace granulated, without spines, the rostrum triangular, with the lateral margins weakly convex, the antennal spine absent, the anterolateral spine of the carapace bluntly produced, the abdominal segments spineless, the eyes large, not movable, the eyestalks short, unarmed, the first ambulatory leg reaching the end of the cheliped, and epipods present on the chelipeds and first two pairs of the ambulatory legs.

Munidopsis marionis is very close to M. allae Khodkina & Duris, 1989 , known only from one specimen collected southwest of Spain (470–660 m). After the capture of new material of M. marionis ( Galil & Goren 1994; this paper), the distinguishing features of M. allae indicated by Khodkina & Duris (1989), e.g., length of pereiopods, eye size, armature of gastric region of the carapace, seem to be invalid. A complete revision of the type material of M. marionis and M. allae is desirable in order to confirm the existence of one or two taxa.

Distribution. Mediterranean Sea, between 374 and 1000 m (A. Milne­Edwards & Bouvier 1894, Galil & Goren 1994, Froglia et al. 2002). The present material was collected in cold­seep areas ( Olu­Le Roy et al. 2004).