Ommatocarcinus pulcher Barnard, 1950

Castro, Peter, 2007, A reappraisal of the family Goneplacidae MacLeay, 1838 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) and revision of the subfamily Goneplacinae, with the description of 10 new genera and 18 new species, Zoosystema 29 (4), pp. 609-774 : 737-738

Ommatocarcinus pulcher Barnard, 1950

Ommatocarcinus macgillivrayi – Sakai 1934: 314, fig. 22; 1935: 187, fig. 96; 1939: 564, 722, pl. 102, fig. 5; 1956: 47 [in list]; 1965: 170, pl. 84, fig. 3 [colour]; 1976: 538, pl. 188, fig. 2 [colour] [ Japan]. — Miyake 1961: 21 [in list] [ Japan]; 1991: 149, 220 [in list], pl. 50, fig. 5 [colour] [ Japan]. — Takeda & Miyake 1969b: 174 [in list] [ Japan]. — Kikuchi & Miyake 1978: 42 [in list] [ Japan]. — Muraoka 1998: 47 [in list] [ Japan]. — Ikeda & Takeda 2006: 180, fig. 2G [colour] [ Japan]. — Davie et al. 2002: 331 [Andaman Sea coast of Thailand]. — Ng & Davie 2002: 377 [Andaman Sea coast of Thailand]. — Takeda et al. 2006: 205 [in list] [ Japan] (not Ommatocarcinus macgillivrayi White, 1852 ).

Ommatocarcinus sp. – Barnard 1946: 365 [ South Africa].

Ommatocarcinus pulcher Barnard, 1950: 286 , fig. 53bf. — Takeda & Miyake 1969b: 174 [in list]. — Guinot 1971: 1082 [in list]. — Dai et al. 1986: 377 [in key], 378, fig. 199-2, 199-3, pl. 55, fig. 3 [South China Sea]. — Dai & Yang 1991: 407 [in key], fig. 199-2, 199-3, pl. 55, fig. 3 [South China Sea]. — Ng et al. 2001: 33 [in list]. — Kensley 1981: 46 [in list]. — Hsueh & Huang 2002: 116, figs 2B, 3.

? Ommatocarcinus sp. – Yokoya 1933: 198, fig. 65 [ Japan].

?“ Ommatocarcinus sp. Yokoya?” – Zarenkov 1972: 234, figs 1, 2 [ Vietnam].

? Ommatocarcinus macgillivrayi – Davie 2002: 200 [in list], unnumb. figure after Ommatocarcinus sp. of Yokoya (1933: fig. 65).

TYPE MATERIAL. — ♂ holotype from fish stomach ( SAM A8322).

TYPE LOCALITY. — South Africa, Natal.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Japan. Unknown locality,T. Sakai leg., 1 ♂, cl 10.7 mm, broken ( BMNH 1961.6.5.85). Taiwan. Tachi, Ilan County, commercial inshore trawlers, 100-400 m, P. K. L. Ng coll., 3-4.VIII.1996, 1 ♂ ( ZRC 1997.0403).

DISTRIBUTION. — South Africa ( Barnard 1950), Andaman Sea coast of Thailand ( Davie et al. 2002; Ng & Davie 2002), Japan ( Takeda & Miyake 1969b), Taiwan ( Ng et al. 2001), South China Sea ( Dai et al. 1986). Depth: shallow subtidal to at least 100 m.

REMARKS

Ommatocarcinus pulcher was described from one large (cl 15 mm, cw 37 mm) male specimen collected from a fish stomach in South Africa ( Barnard 1950: 286, fig. 53 b-f). The holotype could not be examined during this study but the description and detailed illustrations (including the G1) in Barnard’s description are clear and reasonably complete. The species is close to O. macgillivrayi , in terms of the shape of the carapace (anterolateral teeth are absent) and a similar G1. Takeda & Miyake (1969b: 174) had suggested that it was a synonym of White’s species. One difference, however, is that the eye peduncles extend slightly beyond the outer orbital teeth in O. pulcher ( Dai & Yang 1991: pl. 55, fig. 3), whereas in O. macgillivrayi only the distal margins of the eyes, not the eye peduncles, extend beyond the teeth ( Dai & Yang 1991: pl. 55, fig. 2, as O. macgillivaryi [sic]). Other differences are the absence of the small distal tooth on the merus of each of the ambulatory legs (P2-P5) and of the median tooth on the cheliped merus that are characteristic of O. macgillivrayi . The G1 of O. pulcher is slightly less pointed than that of O. macgillivrayi (see Dai & Yang 1991: figs 199-1, 199-2; Hsueh & Huang 2002: figs 3F, G). The stridulating ridge on the proximal edge of the outer (dorsal) margin of the cheliped merus ( Barnard 1950: fig. 53 e; Dai & Yang 1991: fig. 199-3) is less pronounced in O. pulcher than in O. macgillivrayi although the difference may be due to size since only large specimens of the latter were examined.

The Japanese records of O. macgillivrayi appear to be referable to O. pulcher (see Remarks for O. macgillivrayi above). Ommatocarcinus sp. ( Yokoya 1933), known from three Japanese specimens that could not be examined, also appears to represent O. pulcher since the meri of the ambulatory legs are similarly unarmed ( Yokoya 1933: 198, fig. 65). Material from Vietnam identified by Zarenkov (1972: 234, fig. 1-2) as “ Ommatocarcinus sp. Yokoya?” could not be examined or identified by the information provided.