Notes on Hexapodidae (Crustacea, Brachyura) from Indonesia and Malaysia, with description of a new species of Mariaplax Rahayu & Ng, 2014, from Lombok, Indonesia
Author
Ng, Peter K. L.
Author
Rahayu, Dwi Listyo
text
Zootaxa
2015
3981
1
125
137
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3981.1.7
5e653810-c17b-46b7-b552-db36e102582a
1175-5326
241815
1DBD87D6-7AA4-456B-878D-C50BF38C173D
Hexapus sexpes
(
Fabricius, 1798
)
(
Fig. 1
A, B)
Cancer sexpes
Fabricius, 1798
: 334
.
See
Rahayu & Ng (2014: 400)
for the complete synonymy.
Material examined
.
Peninsular
Malaysia
:
2 males
(7.3 ×
4.5 mm
, 6.0 ×
3.6 mm
),
1 female
(7.6 ×
4.7 mm
) (
ZRC
), station D, Jeram Polychaete Reef, intertidal muddy shore and intermittent sabellariid reefs, lower, lowest shore, Jeram, Kuala Selangor,
3°13'27"N
101°18'13"E
, coll. J. J. Eeo,
July–October 2013
.
Remarks
.
Rahayu & Ng (2014)
revised the taxonomy of the species and clarified its identity based on material from Phuket in western
Thailand
. Velip & Rivonker (2014) examined the
type
material of
Hexapus estuarinus
Sankarankutty, 1975
, from southern
India
, and commented that it was a valid species and not synonymous with
H. sexpes
. They argued that the structure of the chela (with a basal tooth on the dactylus of the major chela) was different, that there was a large gap between the closed fingers of the minor chela, setae at the base of the propodal finger was absent, and tubercles were present on the thoracic sternum. The differences observed for the chela are subject to size (the
type
of
H. sexpes
is relatively smaller than that of
H. estuarinus
), however, and this structure is also known to vary to some degree. We do not regard these differences as substantial; they certainly agree very well with the material identified as
H. sexpes
by
Rahayu & Ng (2014)
, the redescription of the
type
male by
Manning (1982)
, and the present material here from
Malaysia
. As such, we prefer to regard them as synonymous for the time being. The presence of the species in the Straits of
Malacca
, Peninsular
Malaysia
is nevertheless noteworthy.
Three species of
Hexapus
are now known:
Hexapus bidentatus
Velip & Rivonker, 2014
,
Hexapus sexpes
(
Fabricius, 1798
)
and
Hexapus timika
Rahayu & Ng, 2014
.