Macrophthalmus (Macrophthalmus) laevis A. Milne-Edwards, 1867

Naderloo, Reza & Türkay, Michael, 2012, Decapod crustaceans of the littoral and shallow sublittoral Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf: Faunistics, Biodiversity and Zoogeography 3374, Zootaxa 3374 (1), pp. 1-67 : 52

Macrophthalmus (Macrophthalmus) laevis A. Milne-Edwards, 1867

Persian Gulf. UAE ( Titgen 1982; Apel & Türkay 1999; Apel 2001; Naderloo et al. 2011), Iran [ Pretzmann (1971) as Macrophthalmus (Macrophthalmus) ressli Pretzmann, 1971 ; Naderloo et al. 2011; present study).

Iran. Hormozgan Province: Bandar-Kolahi, Qeshm I. (five stations along the north coast), Hormoz I., Bandar- Abbas, Bandar-Khamir, Mahtabi . Khuzestan Province: Bandar-Emam.

General distribution. Northwestern Indian Ocean: Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Pakistan.

Habitat. Muddy-sand/sandy-mud intertidal.

Remarks. Pretzmann (1971) described M. ressli as a new species from Bandar-Abbas at the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf. Barnes (1976) reluctantly synonymised M. ressli with M. laevis and was the first to provide a detailed description for M. laevis based on paratype material of M. ressli (NHMW 3791). We have also examined Pretzmann’s specimens, which are clearly belonging to M. laevis . Detailed morphological characteristics and taxonomic remarks, as well as biological notes are provided by Naderloo et al. (2011).