Pycnoplax meridionalis ( Rathbun, 1923 ) Castro, 2007

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 : 669-672

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.4525564

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/102B87CB-FFBE-255D-FC8E-FA62FEC2F97B

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Pycnoplax meridionalis ( Rathbun, 1923 )
status

comb. nov.

Pycnoplax meridionalis ( Rathbun, 1923) View in CoL n. comb.

Carcinoplax meridionalis Rathbun, 1923: 99 View in CoL , pl. 18 [ Australia]. — McNeill 1929: 150 [ Australia]. — Serène 1968: 89 [in list]. — Serène & Lohavanijaya 1973: 62 [in list], 64 [in key], 67, figs 166-173, pl. 15, fig. D [ Australia]. — Guinot 1969b: 524 [discussion]; 1971: 1081 [in list]; 1989: 314 [in list], pl. 12, fig. G. — Griffin & Brown 1976: 255 [ Australia]. — Springthorpe & Lowry 1994: 106 [in list]. — Davie 2002: 189 [unnumb. fig.], 194 [in list]. — Poore 2004: 434 [in key], 436, fig. 140c, pl. 24, fig. a [ Australia].

Pilumnoplax abyssicola View in CoL – Whitelegge 1900: 158 (not Carcinoplax abyssicola ( Miers, 1886)) View in CoL .

Carcinoplax meridionaris [sic] – Sakai 1969: 269 [in list].

Carcinoplex [sic] meridionalis – Griffin 1972: 84 [ Australia].

Not Carcinoplax meridionalis View in CoL – Chen 1984: 189 [in key], 194, fig. 5; 1998: 266 [in key] (unknown species).

Carcinoplax victoriensis View in CoL – McLay 1988: 258, fig. 57 [ New Zealand].

? Carcinoplax victoriensis View in CoL – Dell 1960: 4, pl. 1 [Chatham Is]; 1963b: 251; 1968a: 25 [in list]; 1968b: 234, 238 [ New Zealand]. — Bennett 1964: 73 footnote [ New Zealand]. — Takeda & Miyake 1969b: 172 [ New Zealand]. — Dawson 1984: 215, pl. 2, fig. e [ New Zealand]. — Wear & Fielder 1985: 10 [in list], 62 [larvae] [ New Zealand].

TYPE MATERIAL. — Australia, Endeavour , ♂ holotype ( AM E2233 ) ; ♂ paratype ( AM E5159 ) ; 2 undetermined paratypes ( AM E6487 ) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Australia, Victoria, off Rame Head, 37°58’S, 149°17’E, 139 m.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Australia. New South Wales, off Newcastle, 82-91 m, XI.1931, 5 ♂♂ ( ZRC 1965.11.24.4). — Stn SS01/00 141, 37°20.99’S, 150°93.63’E, 15.IV.2000, 2 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 pre-adult ♀, 1 pre-adult ( NMV J52135 View Materials ). — Off Botany Bay, leg. M. Ward, X.1924, 1 ♀ ( BPBM S1851).

Victoria, stn SS01/00 237, 38°11.26’S, 149°33.59’E, 320 m, 26.IV.2000, 3 ♂♂, 1 pre-adult ♂ ( NMV J52128 View Materials ).

South Australia, stn SS01/00 351, 33°16.00’S, 130°43.15’E, 10.V.2000, 1 ♀ ( NMV J52131 View Materials ).

New Zealand. Tangaroa , stn TAN0107/02, 35°44.38’S, 178°29.83’E, 382 m, 19.V.2001, 3 ♂♂, 1 pre-adult ♂ ( NIWA). — StnTAN0107/05, 35°44.38’S, 178°29.85’E, 420 m, 19.V.2001, 1 ♀ ( NIWA). — Stn TAN0707/50, 35°44.38’S, 178°29.92’E, 430 m, 19.V.2001, 2 pre-adult ( NIWA). — Stn TAN0107/122, 35°44.31’S, 178°29.79’E, 939 m 20.V.2001, 1 ♂, 1 pre-adult ( NIWA). — Stn TAN0107/223, 35°44.26’S, 178°30.45’E, 1045 m, 23.V.2001, 1 ♀ ( NIWA). — Stn TAN0107/224, 35°44.35’S, 178°29.74’E, 200 m, 23.V.2001, 1 ♂, 7 ♀♀, 8 pre-adult ( NIWA). — Stn TAN0107/229, 36°08.35’S, 178°11.55’E, 501 m, 25.V.2006, 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ ( NIWA). — Stn TAN107/324, 1 ♀ ( NIWA).

Off Banks Peninsula, from Port Lyttleton fishermen, Christchurch, 2004, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ ( NIWA).

DISTRIBUTION. — Known only from Australia (Western Australia to New South Wales, including Tasmania and Tasmanian seamounts [ Poore 2004]), and New Zealand, including the Chatham Is ( Dell 1968b). Depth: 46-1045 m.

COLOUR

Carapace pink (see Poore 2004: pl. 24, figs a, b, as C. meridionalis ). The carapace of specimens from New Zealand has been described as “pale vermillion, darker anteriorly” ( McLay 1988: 258, as C. victoriensis ).

REMARKS

Guinot (1969b: 524) placed Carcinoplax meridionalis by itself in one of three groups of Carcinoplax species because of a sternum that was narrower, particularly between the P1 (“plastron sternal moins élargi, notamment entre les p1”). Serène & Lohavanijaya (1973: 67) considered the species as “close” to Carcinoplax angusta ( Rathbun, 1914) , actually not belonging in Carcinoplax but a euryplacid (see Remarks for Carcinoplax ), on account of the “stout and smooth” P1 and the narrow male abdomen and G1. The similarities in these last two characters are erroneous since both the male abdomen and the G1 are much narrower in than in P. meridionalis n. comb.

Diagnostic of the species is a second anterolateral tooth that is acute and has a curved tip (see Rathbun 1923: pl. 18, fig. 1; Guinot 1989: pl. 12, fig. G; Poore 2004: fig. 140c, as C. meridionalis ). The inner suborbital tooth is conspicuous and visible dorsally as in P. victoriensis n. comb. The G1 is proximally thick and spinous but the distal part is narrow ( Serène & Lohavanijaya 1973: figs 168- 170, as C. meridionalis ). The G2 is longer than the G1, its distal part almost as long as the proximal part (peduncle), the tip is not expanded and it has several minute spinules ( Serène & Lohavanijaya 1973: figs 171-173, as C. meridionalis ). The vulva has a thick, oblong vulvar cover on its outer margin. Differences with P. victoriensis n. comb., with which it is apparently sympatric, are given in the Remarks section of P. victoriensis n. comb. (see below).

The East China Sea specimens identified as C. meridionalis by Chen (1984: 194, 197) do not belong to the species, which is known only from temperate

Revision of Goneplacinae ( Crustacea, Brachyura)

Australia and New Zealand. The general shape of the carapace is similar to that of P. surugensis n. comb. but the ambulatory legs (P2-P5) are shorter than in the latter. The East China Sea specimens were not available for examination.

Records of Pycnoplax victoriensis ( Rathbun, 1923) n. comb. from New Zealand most probably belong instead to P. meridionalis n. comb. The material, however, should be re-examined.

Pycnoplax victoriensis ( Rathbun, 1923) n. comb. ( Fig. 18 View FIG )

Carcinoplax victoriensis Rathbun, 1923: 101 View in CoL , pl. 19 [ Australia]. — Serène 1968: 89 [in list]. — Sakai 1969: 269 [in list]. — Guinot 1969b: 526 [discussion]; 1971: 1081 [in list]; 1989: 314 [in list], pl. 12, fig. F. — Serène & Lohavanijaya 1973: 62 [in list], 64 [in key]. — Griffin & Brown 1976: 254 [ Australia]. — Springthorpe & Lowry 1994: 115 [in list]. — Davie 2002: 194 [in list]. — Poore 2004: 434 [in key], 436, fig. 140d, pl. 24, fig. b [ Australia].

Not Carcinoplax victoriensis View in CoL – McLay 1988: 258, fig. 57 [ New Zealand] (= Pycnoplax meridionalis ( Rathbun, 1923) View in CoL n. comb.).

?Not Carcinoplax victoriensis View in CoL – Dell 1960: 4, pl. 1 [Chatham Is]; 1963b: 251; 1968a: 25 [in list]; 1968b: 234, 238 [ New Zealand]. — Bennett 1964: 73 footnote [ New Zealand]. — Takeda & Miyake 1969b: 172 [ New Zealand]. — Dawson 1984: 215, pl. 2, fig. e [ New Zealand]. — Wear & Fielder 1985: 10 [in list], 62 [larvae] [ New Zealand] (= Pycnoplax meridionalis ( Rathbun, 1923) View in CoL n. comb.).

TYPE MATERIAL. — Australia, Endeavour , ♂ holotype, cl 24.4 mm, cw 34 mm ( AM E4395 ) ; 2 pre-adult paratypes ( AM E5196 ) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Australia, Victoria, south of Gabo I., 38°09’S, 149°55’E, 281- 503 m.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Australia. Victoria, 55 km east of Gabo I., 37°41.5’S, 150°14.0’E, 458 m, Soela, 4.II.1985, 1 ♂ ( NMV J53153 View Materials ). — Stn SS01/00 187, 38°14.91’S, 149°38.67’E, 500 m, 21.IV.2000, 6 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, 4 pre-adult ♀♀ ( NMV J52213 View Materials ).

DISTRIBUTION. — Known only from temperate southeastern Australia, including Tasmania (see Poore 2004). Records from New Zealand, including the Chatham Is, are questionable. Depth: 125- 765 m.

COLOUR

Carapace of live individuals with large pink blotches, dark-red bands on the meri of the ambulatory legs.

REMARKS

Pycnoplax victoriensis View in CoL n. comb. is close to P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. in the general shape of the carapace. Both species appear to be sympatric to southeastern Australia. They can be easily distinguished because the second anterolateral tooth is short and triangular in P. victoriensis View in CoL n. comb. but curved and conspicuously acute in P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. (see Rathbun 1923: pl. 18, fig. 1, pl. 19, fig. 1; Guinot 1989: pl. 12, figs F, G; Poore 2004: fig. 140c, d, as C. victoriensis View in CoL and C. meridionalis View in CoL ). The carapace has two slight horizontal ridges across (see Rathbun 1923: pl. 19, fig. 1; Guinot 1989: pl. 12, fig. F, as C. victoriensis View in CoL ), which are absent in P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. The telson of the male abdomen has a rounded margin whereas it is more pointed in P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. The G1 is stout, spinous, and narrower distally, although not as narrow as in P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. (see Serène & Lohavanijaya 1973: figs 168-170, as C. meridionalis View in CoL ); the G2 is longer than the G1, its flagellum shorter than the proximal part (peduncle), and the tip with two terminal spinules. The vulva of adult females has a conspicuous triangular vulvar cover ( Fig. 18 View FIG ), whereas it is oblong in P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. The carapace of live P. victoriensis View in CoL n. comb. has large pink blotches, dark-red bands on the ambulatory leg meri, and white fingers that can be dark brown at the tips, whereas in P. meridionalis View in CoL n. comb. the carapace is similarly pink without the red bands on the ambulatory legs and dark brown fingers (see Poore 2004: pl. 24, figs a, b, as C. meridionalis View in CoL ).

AM

Australian Museum

ZRC

Zoological Reference Collection, National University of Singapore

NMV

Museum Victoria

BPBM

Bishop Museum

NIWA

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Malacostraca

Order

Decapoda

Family

Goneplacidae

Genus

Pycnoplax

Loc

Pycnoplax meridionalis ( Rathbun, 1923 )

Castro, Peter 2007
2007
Loc

Carcinoplax victoriensis

MCLAY C. L. 1988: 258
1988
Loc

Carcinoplax victoriensis

MCLAY C. L. 1988: 258
1988
Loc

Carcinoplax meridionalis

CHEN H. 1984: 189
1984
Loc

Carcinoplex [sic] meridionalis

GRIFFIN D. J. G. 1972: 84
1972
Loc

Carcinoplax meridionaris

SAKAI T. 1969: 269
1969
Loc

Carcinoplax victoriensis

WEAR R. G. & FIELDER D. R. 1985: 10
DAWSON E. W. 1984: 215
TAKEDA M. & MIYAKE S. 1969: 172
BENNETT E. W. 1964: 73
DELL R. K. 1960: 4
1960
Loc

Carcinoplax meridionalis

POORE G. C. B. 2004: 434
SPRINGTHORPE R. & LOWRY J. 1994: 106
GRIFFIN D. J. G. & BROWN D. E. 1976: 255
SERENE R. & LOHAVANIJAYA P. 1973: 62
GUINOT D. 1969: 524
SERENE R. 1968: 89
MCNEILL A. F. 1929: 150
RATHBUN M. J. 1923: 99
1923
Loc

Carcinoplax victoriensis

POORE G. C. B. 2004: 434
SPRINGTHORPE R. & LOWRY J. 1994: 115
GRIFFIN D. J. G. & BROWN D. E. 1976: 254
SERENE R. & LOHAVANIJAYA P. 1973: 62
SAKAI T. 1969: 269
GUINOT D. 1969: 526
SERENE R. 1968: 89
RATHBUN M. J. 1923: 101
1923
Loc

Pilumnoplax abyssicola

WHITELEGGE T. 1900: 158
1900
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