Polycheles sculptus Smith, 1880

Ahyong, Shane T. & Chan, Tin-Yam, 2004, Polychelid Lobsters Of Taiwan (Decapoda: Polychelidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52 (1), pp. 171-182 : 179

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.13244631
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13244797
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/08318781-095E-FFA7-FEC4-F8AEFACD9FFD
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Polycheles sculptus Smith, 1880
status

Treatment

Polycheles sculptus Smith, 1880 View in CoL

( Figs. 3 E-G)

Polycheles sculptus Smith, 1880: 346 View in CoL , pl. 7 figs. 1-6 [type locality: off Nova Scotia, Canada, 43º10’N, 61º20’W]; Galil, 2000: 292, 340-344, Fig. 24.

Pentacheles spinosus A. Milne Edwards, 1880: 66 [type locality: W of Tortugas, off Dominica].

Material examined. – SW Taiwan: 1 female (cl. 45.1 mm), ( NTOU), 22º15.07’N, 120º08.02’E, 748- 690 m, TAIWAN 2001 CP133, 21 Nov.2001 GoogleMaps . Pratas ( Dong-Sha Islands ) : 1 female (cl. 23.4 mm), ( NTOU), 1265 m, “R.V. Fishery Researcher 1” stn A-35, 25 Apr.1996 ; 1 female (cl. 24.2 mm), ( NTOU), 1520 m, “R.V. Fishery Researcher 1”, 25 Apr.1996 .

Remarks. – Of the known Taiwanese polychelids, P. sculptus would most likely be confused with P. galil . Polycheles sculptus differs from P. galil chiefly in bearing two instead of one spine on the outer margin of the basal antennular segment.

Of all known species, P. sculptus most closely resembles P. talismani from West Africa. Galil (2000) distinguished P. talismani from P. sculptus by 1) having more lateral carapace spines posterior to the postcervical incision (8-10 vs 6-7), 2) a denticulate instead of smooth double dorsal carina on the sixth tergite and 3) a prominent instead of obsolete proximal dorsal crest on the telson. The lateral carapace spination exhibited by the present specimens of P. sculptus (6:3:7-8) shows that the lateral carapace spines posterior to the postcervical incision overlap in the two species. Therefore, the latter two features distinguishing P. sculptus from P. talismani , namely the form of the dorsal carina on the sixth abdominal tergite and proximal crest on the telson, appear to be the most reliable distinguishing characters.

Distribution. – Worldwide: both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean Sea, and widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific. Polycheles sculptus is reported for the first time from Taiwan; 200-4000m ( Galil, 2000).