Menaethiops aff. fascicularis ( Krauss, 1843 )

Naderloo, Reza & Türkay, Michael, 2012, Decapod crustaceans of the littoral and shallow sublittoral Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf: Faunistics, Biodiversity and Zoogeography 3374, Zootaxa 3374 (1), pp. 1-67 : 34

Menaethiops aff. fascicularis ( Krauss, 1843)

Persian Gulf. First Persian Gulf record.

Iran. Hormozgan Province: Qeshm I. (Suza, Shib-Deraz).

General distribution. Persian Gulf.

Habitat. Rocky/cobble intertidal.

Remarks. Griffin & Tranter (1986: 87) provided a key for 12 species of the genus, using their key the Persian Gulf specimens are similar to Menaethiops fascicularis ( Krauss, 1843) described from South Africa and restricted also to that region. As the Krauss (1843) material is not available in Stuttgart Museum, there is no chance to see the type material of M. fascicularis and make comparison with the present specimen from the Persian Gulf. The present specimens have a supraorbital eave which is not produced anteriorly and is smooth, therefore is very closely related to M. fascicularis . Comparing the rostral spines, the two species are completely distinct as described and figured originally by Krauss (1843: pl. 3, fig. 5). Menaethiops fascicularis has short rostral spines which are widely divergent, while the short rostral spines of the present specimens are not widely divergent. The Persian Gulf specimens looks distinct from other congeners and is being described as a new species.