Revision of Selatium Serène & Soh, 1970 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Sesarmidae), with description of a new genus and two new species
Author
Schubart, Christoph D.
Author
Liu, Hung-Chang
Author
Ng, Peter K. L.
text
Zootaxa
2009
2154
1
29
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.188831
370305cb-7612-43e1-853a-235c328dc888
1175-5326
188831
Selatium elongatum
(
A. Milne-Edwards, 1869
)
(
Figs. 5–8
)
Sesarma elongatum
A. Milne-Edwards, 1869
: 30
(
type
locality:
Madagascar
). —
Vannini & Valmori 1981
: 83
(
Somalia
). —
Vannini
et al.
1997
(
Kenya
).
Sesarma elongata
— De
Man 1887
: 645
(no new locality). — De
Man 1892
: 256
(description of
type
specimen). —
Ortmann 1894
: 56
(
Tanzania
).
Sesarma latifemur
Alcock, 1900
: 421
(Andaman Islands)
. —
Alcock & McArdle 1903
: pl. 66, fig. 2 (Andaman Islands).
Sesarma
(
Holometopus
)
elongata
—
Tesch 1917
: 149
(no new locality). —
Tesch 1918
: 109
–112, pl. 5, fig. 2 (New
Guinea
, Ceram).
Sesarma
(
Holometopus
)
latifemur
—
Tesch 1917
: 168
(no new locality).
Sesarma
sp. —
Fourmanoir 1954
: 3
(
Madagascar
).
Sesarma
(
Holometopus
)
elongatum
—
Crosnier 1965
: 49
, figs. 63–67, 72, 84, pl. 4 fig. 1. —
Serène 1968
: 107
(no new locality).
Selatium elongatum
—
Hartnoll 1975
: 305
(
Tanzania
). —
Cannicci
et al
. 1999
: 335
(
Kenya
). —
Fratini
et al.
2005
: 222
(
Kenya
). —
Schubart
et al
. 2006
: 195
(
Kenya
). — Ng
et al
. 2008a: 223 (list).
Material examined
.
Madagascar
:
Lectotype
male (34.4 x
36.2 mm
) (MNHN-B3640).
Kenya
: Mida Creek,
1 male
(33.9 x
35.3 mm
),
1 female
(33.0 x
33.2 mm
) (
ZRC
2000.1782), coll. M. Vannini, November, 1991.
Philippines
, Boho
l:
1 male
(
ASIZ
72929), mangroves, Loboc River, coll. H.-C. Liu,
21 February 2003
(
DNA
voucher);
4 males
,
3 females
(
ZRC
2004.0472), mangroves, Loboc River, coll. P. K. L. Ng
et al
.,
2 March 2004
;
1 male
(
ZRC
2008.0713), station M19, Suncolan, Panglao, coll. P. K. L. Ng,
10 June 2004
.
Indonesia
, Sulawesi
: Tomini Bay: mangrove between Mapane and Poso,
1 male
(40.1 x
40.9 mm
),
1 juvenile
female (24.6 x
24.7 mm
) (
ZRC
2000.1738), coll. C. D. Schubart
et al
.,
20 January 2000
(
DNA
voucher);
4 males
,
3 females
, mangrove forest, on trees, Bunaken Island, off Manado, coll. N. K. Ng & J. Lai,
September 2003
.
Papua New Guinea
:
1 male
(40.7 x 42.0 mm) (
ZRC
2009.0567), Oro Province, Tuti District, Tuti Wharf, on rope, coll. H. H. Tan,
10 December 2008
.
Type
locality
.
Madagascar
.
Diagnosis
. Carapace longitudinally rectangular, longer than wide; lateral margins subparallel or gently diverging towards posterior margin, entire, without epibranchial tooth, with only small notch marking rudimentary tooth (
Fig. 5
A, B); chelipeds unequal in adult males (
Fig. 5
A); chela with relatively short fingers (
Fig. 6
B); dorsal margin of palm with curved pectinated crest consisting of 43–48 teeth (
Fig. 7
A); dorsal margin of dactylus with row of 32–35 prominent tubercles (
Fig. 7
B); ambulatory legs relatively short (
Fig. 5
A); anterior thoracic sternites and male pleon relatively long longitudinally (
Figs. 6
A, 8C); distal part of G1 appears swollen, with short triangular pectinated tip (
Fig. 8
D–G).
Remarks
. In naming this species, A. Milne
Edwards (1869)
did not state how many specimens he had nor did he select a
holotype
. As such, all his material must be regarded as
syntypes
. No subsequent author has selected a
type
specimen. We hereby designate the MNHN dried specimen (MNHN-B3640) (the only one that is still extant) as the
lectotype
of
Sesarma elongatum
. The material we have on hand from
Madagascar
to Sulawesi is clearly conspecific and we can find no significant morphological or genetic differences between them.
Ecology
.
Selatium elongatum
is a tree-climbing species from mangroves.
Hartnoll (1975)
states that it can also be found sheltering beneath rocks and mentions that
Fourmanoir (1954)
records it from pools at the high water mark in
Madagascar
. However, we could not find this record by Fourmanoir despite careful reading of that source. The present specimens from Sulawesi were found in mangrove tree holes or climbing along the trunk slightly above sea water level.
Cannicci
et al.
(1999)
indicated that in
Kenya
this species is active at high tide and feeds on floating algae and mangrove leaves. These authors also found that males defend their activity areas from other large males. This explains the marked sexual dimorphism in cheliped size of this species, with prominent male chelae.