Quollastria kapala Ahyong, 2001

Ahyong, Shane T. & Kumar, Appukuttannair Biju, 2018, First records of seven species of mantis shrimp from India (Crustacea: Stomatopoda), Zootaxa 4370 (4), pp. 381-394 : 390-391

Quollastria kapala Ahyong, 2001

( Fig. 3B )

Oratosquilla fossulata .—MOOSA 1991: 211 [PART, NOT O. fossulata MOOSA, 1986]. Quollastria kapala AHYONG, 2001 : 306–308, FIG. 148 [TYPE LOCALITY: SE OF POINT DANGER, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, 28°13’S, 153°50’E].—AHYONG 2004: 21.

Material examined. Kerala: AM P 100657, 1 male (TL 79 mm), off Neendakara, coll. P. Ng et al., 2017 ; ZRC, 1 female (TL 83 mm), off Neendakara, coll. P. Ng et al., 2017.

Tamil Nadu: ZRC, 1 female (TL 69 mm), Muttom, coll. P. Ng et al., 2017 ; ZRC, 1 female (TL 88 mm), Muttom, 21 March 2017.

Chesterfield Islands , New Caledonia: MNHN Sto 1358, 1 female (TL 45 mm), 24°49’S, 159°41’E, 258–269 m, MUSORSTOM 5 sta. 276, 10 September 1986 ; MNHN Sto 1359, 1 male (TL 80 mm), 24°01’S, 159°38’E, 273 m, MUSORSTOM 5 sta. 289, 10 October 1986 .

Remarks. The present specimens of Q. kapala agree well with the type series from eastern Australia, including the combination of six teeth on the dactylus of the raptorial claw, epipods on maxillipeds 1–4, sharp apices on the dorsal processes of the antennular somite, absence of longitudinal carinae on the dorsolateral surface of the telson and wide spacing of the submedian denticles on the telson. The abdominal spination of the Indian specimens (submedian 5–6, intermediate 3–6, lateral 1–6, marginal 1–5) is within the reported range (Ahyong 2001).

All preVious records of Quollastria kapala are from the southwestern Pacific (eastern Australia and the Philippines) so the present records from Kerala are the first for the Indian Ocean, and represent a significant westward range extension. We also take this opportunity to document the presence of Q. kapala from the Chesterfield Islands ( New Caledonia) based on two specimens reported by Moosa (1991) as Q. fossulata . As such, the distribution of Q. kapala is much wider than preViously reported and parallels that of its congener Q. subtilis (Manning, 1978b) .

Distribution. Australia, Chesterfield Islands ( New Caledonia), the southern Philippines and now from southwestern India; 131–411 m (Ahyong 2004).

Figures

FIGURE 3. A, Quollastria gonypetes (KEMP, 1911), FEMALE, TL 72 MM, MUTTOM, DABFUK; B, Quollastria kapala AHYONG, 2001, FEMALE,TL 88 MM, MUTTOM,ZRC; C, Squilloides leptosquilla (BROOKS, 1886), MALE,TL 105 MM, KOLLAM,ZRC.