Laubierinia nodosa ( Rathbun, 1916 )

Takeda, Masatsune, Ohtsuchi, Naoya & Komatsu, Hironori, 2021, Crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Sea off East and Southeast Asia collected by the RV Hakuhō Maru (KH- 72 - 1 Cruise) 1. Sulu Sea and Sibutu Passage, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 47 (2), pp. 65-97 : 88

Laubierinia nodosa ( Rathbun, 1916)

( Fig. 15E )

Material examined. RV Hakuhō Maru KH-72-1 cruise, sta. 20 (Sibutu Passage; 05°40.9′N, 119°46.3′E – 05°43.1′N, 119°47.0′E; 460–514 m deep); otter trawl; 10 June, 1972; 1 ˁ ( CB 11.0 mm including branchial tubercles; CL 16.5 mm excluding pseudorostral spines), 1˂ (ovig.) ( CB 15.0 mm; CL 21.4 mm), NSMT-Cr 28980 .

Remarks. This species was originally described in Sphenocarcinus by Rathbun (1916), but Garth (1958) regarded the genera Sphenocarcinus A. Milne-Edwards, 1878 and Oxypleurodon Miers, 1886 as synonymous with the genus Rochinia A. Milne-Edwards, 1875 . However, Richer de Forges (1995) transferred this species, Rochinia nodosa , to Oxypleurodon reappraised by Tavares (1991b). Richer de Forges and Ng (2009b) further transferred this species, Oxypleurodon nodosus , to their new genus Laubierinia . The genus Laubierinia , the type species of which is Rochinia carinata Griffin and Tranter, 1986 , was defined as distinct from the closest genus Rochinia , in having the rounded carapace (versus pyriform in Rochinia ), the flattened pseudorostral spines (versus long slender spines in Rochinia ), and the large tubercles on the hepatic and branchial regions (versus large spines in Rochinia ).

As a result through the current studies, this species was assigned to the genus Laubierinia as L. nodosa ( Rathbun, 1916) , together with the type species, L. carinata ( Griffin and Tranter, 1986) . Recently, Pugettia globulifera Wood-Mason , in Wood-Mason and Alcock, 1891, which has been recorded by Alcock (1895) and Alcock and Anderson (1895) as Scyramathia globulifera , and by Griffin and Tranter (1986) as Rochinia globulifera , was transferred to Laubierinia by Lee et al. (2021). Laubierinia nodosa is characteristic among the three congeners in having the broad blunt tubercles instead of well-developed islets in the midline of the mesogastric, cardiac and intestinal regions, the absence of a small central mesogastric tubercle, the large nodular projection instead of strong epibranchial spine, and the non-carinate extensor surfaces of the chelipeds and ambulatory legs.

The present specimens show good matches with Rathbun (1916, as Sphenocarcinus ), Griffin (1976, as Sphenocarcinus ), and Richer de Forges and Ng (2009b).

Scyra tuberculata Yokoya, 1933 , which is known only by the original description based on the specimens from the south of Satsuma, Kagoshima-ken (= -Prefecture), 133 m deep, and near the Koshiki Islands, 300 m deep, was remarked to be synonymous with Sphenocarcinus nodosa Rathbun, 1916 ( Sakai, 1976, as Rochinia ; Miyake, 1983, as Rochinia ), though it is not referenced in recent studies ( Ng et al., 2008; Richer de Forges and Ng, 2009b). The present specimens also agree well with the original description (Yokoya, 1933: 156, fig. 55), but could not be compared with the type specimens. With kind help of Dr. F. Takeshita, the type specimens of S. tuberculata were determined to be not located in the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History (KMNH), where Yokoya`s extant specimens are deposited.

Distribution. Japan (from Mikawa Bay at the Pacific coast of central Honshu to Shimo-Koshiki Island in the west of Kyushu), Philippines, Indonesia, northwestern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia; 135–905 m deep.

Figures

Fig. 15. A–D: Oxypleurodon wilsoni Richer de Forges and Poore, 2008, full-grown male (A) (NSMT-Cr 28982. CB 10.6mm excluding branchial tubercles; CL 16.9mm excluding pseudorostral spines), female (B, D) (NSMT-Cr 28983. CB 6.0mm; CL 10.1mm), full-grown female (C) (NSMT-Cr 28984. CB 8.2mm; CL 14.0mm). E: Laubierinia nodosa (Rathbun, 1916), female (NSMT-Cr 28980. CB 15.0mm excluding branchial tubercles; CL 21.4mm excluding pseudorostral spines). F: Oxypleurodon sphenocarcinoides (Rathbun, 1916). Male (NSMT-Cr 28981. CB 7.4mm excluding branchial tubercles; CL 11.8mm excluding pseudorostral spines).