Dromia fallax Latreille, 1812

Cleva, Régis, Guinot, Danièle & Albenga, Laurent, 2007, Annotated catalogue of brachyuran type specimens (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Part I. Podotremata, Zoosystema 29 (2), pp. 229-279 : 240

Dromia fallax Latreille, 1812

(Fig. 7C)

Dromia fallax Latreille, 1812: 276 .

CURRENT STATUS. — Cryptodromia fallax ( Latreille, 1812) .

NEOTYPE (by present designation). — MNHN-B9, Southwestern Indian Ocean , Réunion, M. Maillard coll., McLay det. Cryptodromia fallax , ♂ 11.7 × 13.3 mm, rehydrated, in rather good condition, abdomen detached. — Original label: “ Dromia fallax, M. Maillard , île Bourbon”.

REMARKS

Dromia fallax was attributed to Lamarck (1818) by H. Milne Edwards (1837: 176), A. Milne-Edwards (1862b: 10; see also 1862a) and by most authors, including McLay (1993: 206).The species was in fact briefly described by Latreille (1812: 276) in a short paper on the crabs from“Île-de-France” (= Mauritius) collected by M. J. Milbert.Latreille’s name could not be considered a nomen nudum. Lamarck (1818:264) only wrote that the Dromia fallax of MNHN was “a small species inhabiting ‘Isle de France’”. A full description of a specimen from the same location and probably based on the same material was given by H. Milne Edwards (1837: 176). The identity of the species is clear so its author should be Latreille, 1812.

Two lots were presumed to be the syntypes of Dromia fallax by D. Guinot in 1983on request of C. L.McLay. Their original labels are respectively:MNHN-B9, ♂, “ Dromia fallax, Île Bourbon, M. Maillard coll.”, with the additional label “McLay det. Cryptodromia fallax ”; and MNHN-B6, probably ♂, 13.4 mm length, Dromia fallax , same data, dry and in good condition.Both lots bear “île Bourbon” (= Réunion), instead of “Île de France ” mentioned by Latreille (1812), Lamarck (1818), and H. Milne Edwards (1837). These two samples cannot represent the syntypes, as stated by McLay (1993: 207) for the specimen MNHN-B6 and erroneously indicated on the labels of both lots. Nevertheless, because the type material is presumably lost and also to avoid possible confusion about the origin on the labels, the rehydrated male specimen MNHN-B9 is selected herein as the neotype of Cryptodromia fallax ( Latreille, 1812) .