Annotated type-catalogue of Brachyura (Crustacea, Decapoda) of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Part II. Gecarcinidae and Grapsidae (Thoracotremata, Grapsoidea), with an Appendix of pre- 1900 collectors
Author
Ng, Ngan Kee
Author
Rodríguez Moreno, Paula A.
Author
Naruse, Tohru
Author
Guinot, Danièle
Author
Mollaret, Noémy
text
Zoosystema
2019
2019-03-26
41
7
91
130
journal article
10.5252/zoosystema2019v41a7
d58d0d44-7889-4739-9e2d-b1a0bc9780b9
1638-9387
3722522
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:65E3A0BD-2AAD-4E12-9CB0-73C974BFCE65
Thelphusa rotunda
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
(
Fig. 3B
)
Thelphusa rotunda
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824: 527
, pl. 77, fig. 1.
Cardisoma frontalis
H.
Milne Edwards, 1853: 170
[204].
CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. —
Tuerkayana rotundum
(
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
)
, see
Guinot
et al.
(2018: 564
, 566, table 1).
LECTOTYPE
(by present designation). — MNHN-IU-2000-3745 (= MNHN-B3745),
♂
50.0 × 63.0 mm, Oceania,
M. Guérin.
— Original label: “
Cardisoma rotundum
(
Quoy & Gaimard 1824
)
, Océanie,
M. Guérin
”. Additional labels: “
Cardisoma rotundum
(
Quoy & Gaimard 1824
)
, Type présumé de
C. frontalis
H. Milne-Edw. (1853) (
Holotype
),
Rev. M. Türkay
VI.1972
”.
PRESERVATION. — Dry. Specimen stuck onto corkboard; carapace cracked on posterior region; two pereopods missing; pleon detached; G1 rehydrated, in alcohol.
REMARKS
The species, described by
Quoy & Gaimard (1824: 527
, pl. 77, fig. 1) and originating from the banks of rivers in
Guam
,
Mariana Islands
, was collected during the Expedition of L. de Freycinet on the
Uranie
(
1817-1820
) (see Appendix).
Quoy & Gaimard (1824: 527)
did not explicitly mention if the taxon was based on a single individual, but their description provides information on the behaviour of several crabs: “ces animaux extrêmement défiants” [“these extremely challenging animals ”], an indication that numerous specimens were probably collected in
Guam
. “Océanie” is a large area that can include
Guam
, thus the MNHN specimen such labelled may constitute a part of the
type
material.
Türkay (1974a: 971
, 972; pers comm.,
Jan. 2013
) did not considered any specimen as type of
Thelphusa rotunda
, assuming the species was a synonym of
Cardisoma frontalis
H.
Milne Edwards, 1853
, and regarded the specimen of
Quoy & Gaimard (1824)
from
Guam
as the
holotype
of
C. frontalis
, instead of
T. rotunda
;
Türkay (1974b: 236)
confirmed this choice (see Opinion 1205).
In the description of
C. frontalis
, H.
Milne Edwards (1853: 170
[204]) stated that the locality of
C. frontalis
was not known. Although
Davie (2002: 185)
mentions under “Type data” of
Cardisoma frontalis
that “
syntypes
” are most probably deposited at the MNHN, the type material could not be traced in the MNHN collections and may be considered no longer extant. Since the description and illustration of
Thelphusa rotunda
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
(
1824
: pl. 77, fig. 1) from
Guam
in the
Mariana Islands
(being considered good enough to identify the species) correctly corresponded with
Cardisoma frontalis
and the identity of the two species was not doubted,
Türkay (1974a)
judged the designation of a
neotype
for
C. frontalis
superfluous. He selected the specimen MNHN-IU-2000-3745 (= MNHN-B3745) labelled “
Cardisoma rotundum
(
Quoy & Gaimard 1824
)
” as the
holotype
of
Cardisoma frontalis
. By that action
Türkay (1974b: 234-236
, fig. 14) considered
Guam
the type locality of
C. rotundum
.
But such an act by
Türkay (1974a)
is unwarranted (see
Code
, Art. 73.1.3), and the label in question actually concerns the type of
Thelphusa rotunda
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
.
The statements that the type of
Thelphusa rotunda
was ‘in all likelihood’ lost and that
Cardisoma frontalis
was the junior synonym of
C. rotunda
are unjustified, with unsatisfactory arguments.
Ng & Guinot (2001: 333)
, regarding
Discoplax
A. Milne-Edwards, 1867
as a distinct genus (see
Guinot 1988
,
1994
), treated
Cardisoma frontalis
as the junior synonym of
Discoplax rotunda
.
Even though the two species are synonymous, the specimen of
Quoy & Gaimard (1824)
from
Guam
is not the type of
C. frontalis
but, instead, that of
Tuerkayana rotundum
(
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
)
. The MNHN specimen labelled “Océanie” and regarded as the
holotype
of
C. frontalis
by
Türkay (1974a
, b) is eligible to be designated as the
lectotype
of
Tuerkayana rotundum
(
Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
)
, see
Guinot
et al.
(2018)
.