Latopilumnus conicus Ng & Clark, 2008

Clark, Paul F., Ng, Peter K. L., Fransen, Charles H. J. M., McLaughlin, Patsy A., Dworschak, Peter C. & Baba, Keiji, 2008, A checklist of Crustacea Decapoda collected from Conic Island Cave and adjacent areas of Hong Kong, Journal of Natural History 42 (9 - 12), pp. 913-926 : 922

Latopilumnus conicus Ng & Clark, 2008

Material examined

Conic Island Cave , 22 ° 219540 N 114 ° 239220E, Hong Kong, 2 „„ (3.9× 2.8 mm, 3.3× 2.3 mm), 2 ♀♀ (4.8× 3.3 mm, 5.0× 3.4 mm) ( ZRC 2003.0343 ), coll. 25 October 2002 ; 1 ovig. ♀ (3.2× 2.2 mm) ( NHM 2003.689 ), coll. 21 October 2002 ; 1 „ (3.8× 2.8 mm), 2 ♀♀ (4.0× 2.8 mm, 3.3× 2.3 mm) ( NHM 2003.692 – 694 ), coll. 21 October 2002 ; 1 „ (3.6× 2.6 mm) ( NHM 2003.695 ), coll. 22 October 2002; 1 „ (4.9× 3.3 mm), 1 ovig. ♀ (3.6× 2.7 mm) ( NHM 2003.690 – 691 ), coll. 21 October 2002 ; 1 „ juv. ( NHM 2003.978 ), coll. 25 October 2002 .

Remarks

This is a new species for Hong Kong. The detailed taxonomy of this species is treated elsewhere in this volume (see Ng and Clark 2008).

Discusssion

The present records from Conic Island are interesting in that several of them ( Pisidia serratifrons (Stimpson, 1858) , Enosteoides ornatus (Stimpson, 1858) , Galathea orientalis Stimpson, 1858 , Sphaerozius nitidus Stimpson, 1858 ) are species which were originally described from or near Hong Kong and important for future taxonomic work, especially since most of Stimpson’s (1858a,b) types are no longer extant. Also of interest is the fact that the anomuran and brachyuran crab fauna of Hong Kong is still not that well studied, with seven of the specimens collected, Hyastenus hilgendorfi De Man, 1887 , Epiactaea nodulosa ( White, 1848) , Actumnus elegans De Man, 1888 , Nanopilumnus rouxi ( Balss, 1935) , Latopilumnus malardi (De Man, 1913) , Pagurus imaii ( Yokoya, 1939) and Galathea ohshimai Miyake & Baba, 1967 , being new records.

None of the species treated here can be considered to be a true cavernicolous dweller, and all have been previously reported from more open habitats. A good number of them, however, are clearly closely associated with fouling communities as well as being interstitial occupants of sponges and rocks; this suggests that this habit would deserve more attention in future surveys of Hong Kong. Certainly, much of the earlier published work on Hong Kong decapod crustaceans from subtidal waters has been based on the collections of trawlers and from diving in more exposed habitats.