Lophozozymus pulchelus Milne-Edwards, 1867

Alrasheedi, Sami M, Alrashdi, Mousa N, Alhumaidan, Lama S, Alkhdairi, Ahmad, Alzweihary, Ali M, Alhussaini, Omar M, Alharbi, Lama S, Albalawi, Amirah N, Almutairi, Turki F, Alharbi, Osama A G & Bashal, Afaf A M, 2024, Crabs of the Families Tetraliidae, Trapeziidae and Xanthidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) new to the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology 50 (1), pp. 1-17 : 7-9

Lophozozymus pulchelus Milne-Edwards, 1867

[Jn: Beni-hiroha-ougigani]

( Fig. 3C–D)

Material examined. Haha-jima Is.—Mukoujima I., diving site Nishi-hana (26°36′40″N, 142°07′40″E), 1 8 (NSMT-Cr 31533; cb 11.9×cl 6.8 mm), 4-VII-2015, H. Komatsu leg.; Anejima I., diving site Nihon-iwa (26°32′34″N, 142°09′22″E), 20 m, 1 Ə (NSMT-Cr 31534; cb 6.8×cl 4.5 mm), 13-VII-2016, H. Komatsu leg.

Remark. In the original description ( Milne-Edwards, 1867), the figure was not presented, but in the later work ( Milne-Edwards, 1873), the fine color illustration was provided. This species is especially characteristic in its splendid color with reticulated pattern. The color pattern is not always constant, varying individually and becoming more complex in the larger specimens, but main parts of both palms and each segment of the ambulatory legs are orange red in color ( Milne-Edwards, 1873, pl. 6 fig. 3; Sakai, 1976, pl. 146 fig. 1; Poupin et al., 2018, fig. 16B; Mae- nosono, 2022c, fig. 9D; Present paper, fig. 3C–D). Complex color pattern of a female from the Ogasawara Islands ( Fig. 3D) is quite similar to the photograph of a male from Madagascar reported by Mendoza (2023, fig. 31G), while the reticulated color pattern of a male from the Ogasawara Islands ( Fig. 3C) is close to the color photograph of a male from the Ryukyu Islands reported by Maenosono (2022c, fig. 9D).

Distribution. Widely distributed in the whole Indo-West Pacific. In Japanese waters, from the Ryukyu Islands northward to the coast of the Kii Peninsula, central Honshu (cf. Takeda, 1989; Maenosono, 2022c).