Pachycheles spinipes ( A. Milne-Edwards, 1873 )

Osawa, Masayuki, 2007, Porcellanidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, Zootaxa 1548, pp. 1-49 : 20

Pachycheles spinipes ( A. Milne-Edwards, 1873)

( Fig. 7 )

Porcellana spinipes A. Milne-Edwards, 1873: 262 (type locality: Upalu, Samoa).

Porcellana sollasi Whitelegge, 1897: 144 , pl. 7, fig. 3, 3a (type locality: Funafuti Atoll, Ellice Islands). Pachycheles spinipes .— Haig, 1966b: 286, 288.— Yang, 1983: 6, pl. 8.

Material examined. Loyalty Islands. Lifou Island. Santal Bay. Atelier LIFOU. St. 1434 (St. 12), Huca Htighé Island, 20°52.5’S, 167°08.1’E, 5–20 m, 6 Nov. 2000, 1 male CL 2.6 mm, 1 female CL 2.9 mm. St. 1410 (St. 63B), between Cap Wekutr and Cap Wajez, 20°56.7’S, 167°03.1’E, 2–4 m, 25 Nov. 2000, 1 ovig. female CL 2.7 mm.

Remarks. This species is immediately distinguished from the other Indo-West Pacific species of Pachycheles by having the carapace with elevated squamae on the gastric region ( Fig. 7 A), and chelipeds and ambulatory legs bearing strongly projecting, thorn-shaped tubercles ( Fig. 7 B–D).

Distribution. Christmas Island, Nansha and Xisha Islands in China, Guam, Caroline Islands, Loyalty Islands; Ellice Islands, Samoa; coral reefs ( Haig 1966b; Yang & Xu 1994; Pauley et al. 2003). The specimens examined from the Loyalty Islands were collected from depths of 2– 20 m.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Pachycheles spinipes (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873), ovig. female, CL 2.7 mm, Loyalty Islands, St. 1410.