Revision of the family Chasmocarcinidae Serène, 1964 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Goneplacoidea)
Author
Ng, Peter K. L.
Author
Castro, Peter
text
Zootaxa
2016
4209
1
1
182
journal article
37321
10.11646/zootaxa.4209.1.1
2de5b7bf-3975-458a-b200-07ec69f4e013
1175-5326
272646
849BAB5C-464A-4B4A-A586-5742411EDC01
Chasmocarcinops gelasimoides
Alcock, 1900
(
Figs. 9
;
23I
, J; 30E, F; 40A‒D; 51F; 58F; 70; 86F; 90F)
Chasmocarcinops gelasimoides
Alcock, 1900
: 334
[type localilty: India].—
Alcock & McArdle 1903
: pl. 62, figs. 2, 2a, 3, 3a [India].—
Rathbun 1910
: 340
, pl. 1, fig. 10, pl. 2, fig. 12 [Gulf of Thailand].—
Tesch 1918
: 280
.—
Suvatti 1938
: 58
[in list]; 1950: 161 [in list].—
Schmitt
et al.
1973
: 130
[references].—
Dai & Yang 1991
: 417
, fig 204 (3, 4), pl. 56, fig. 4 [Guandong, China].—
Chen 1998
: 301
fig. 24 [Nansha Is.].—
Serène 1964a
: 266
, fig. 20, pl. 23, fig. C [Philippines]; 1968: 92 [in list].—
Serène & Soh 1976
: 22
[Andaman Sea].—Dai
et al.
1986: 387 [South China Sea].—
Dai & Yang 1991
: 417
, pl. 56, fig. 4 [South China Sea].—
Huang 1994
: 592
[in list].—Davie
et al.
2002: 331 [Andaman Sea].—Ng & Davie 2002: 378 [in list].—
Jiang 2008
: 770
[in list] [South China Sea].—Ng
et al.
2008: 76 [in list].—Castro
et al.
2010: 51 [Singapore].—
Komai
et al.
2012
: 149
[Singapore].
Type
material
(not examined).
1 male
,
1 female
syntypes
,
India
, off
Madras
[=
Chennai
],
22 m
(depository unknown: probably
Zoological Survey
of
India
,
Kolkata
; see
Alcock
1900
).
Material examined
.
Andaman Sea
. THAI-DANISH EXPEDITION: 1 male (PMBC 2061), 1 male (8.8 ×
9.5 mm
) (PMBC 16849), 1 male (PMBC 16840); 1 female (11.5 ×
12.4 mm
) (PMBC 16894), stn 1035, 06°57’N, 99°11’E,
49 m
,
21.01.1966
.
Vietnam
.
4 males
(
ZRC
1970.1.23.10–13)
,
3 males
(
ZRC
1970.8.4.2‒4),
Nhatrang Bay
, 1958.
Gulf
of
Thailand
.
NAGA
EXPEDITION
:
3 males
,
2 females
(
SIO
C 4411), stn S9A 60-1049, 11°36’42’N,
102°26’00”E
,
33 m
, beam trawl,
10.12.1960
.
Peninsular Malaysia.
1 male
(8.6 × 9.0 mm) (
ZRC
1965.11.24.3),
Straits
of
Malacca
,
Pisang I.
, 01.1934.
—
2 females
(
ZRC
1985.1379–1380
),
Johor
, off
Tanjong Stapa
,
11–31 m
, 0 7.04.1955.
Singapore
.
1 male
(
ZRC
1985.1381
), off
Changi
,
9 m
, no date.
—2 males,
3 females
(
ZRC
1985.1370–1374
),
Damar Laut
, mud with gorgonians,
9‒14.5 m
,
Singapore
Regional Fisheries Research Station (
SRFRS
) coll.
—4 males (ZRC 1989.3672–3675), Bedok,
15 m
,
27.10.1982
.—
1 female
(9.5 ×
10.4 mm
) (
ZRC
1989.3676–3677
), East
Coast
,
28.08.1983
.—
2 males
,
Southern Is.
(
ZRC
2000.2612
), shell-gravel,
P.K.L. Ng
coll., 01.1984.
—4 males, 6 females (ZRC), D. Lane coll., 1992.—1 male (ZRC 2000.1501), Southern Is., D.G.B. Chia & Z.L. Xu coll., 01.1992.—1 male,
1 female
(
ZRC
2010.0029
),
Johor
Shoal,
P.K.L. Ng
et al.
coll.,
18.08.1992
.—3 males,
1 male
(9.5 ×
10.3 mm
) (
ZRC
2000.1341
),
Johor
Shoal,
01°20’08.1”N
,
104°02’31.1”E
, mud,
D. Wee
et al
. coll.,
14.07.1993
.—1 female (ZRC 1999.0624), 1 female (ZRC 2013.1412), Angler’s Bank, Tekong-Changi Channel,
20 m
, L.W. Loh coll., 01°23.628’N, 104°01’242”E,
05.08.1997
; 1 male (ZRC 2013.1422), Changi/Tekong channel, Angler's Bank, 01°23.092’N, 104°01.558”E,
12 m
, dredge.—1 male (8.0 ×
8.3 mm
) (ZRC 2009.0234), Marina East, 01°16.815’N, 103°52'645’E, T.M. Sin & A.C. Lee coll.,
19.02.2009
.—
1 female
(9.3 ×
10.6 mm
) (
ZRC
2013.1411
), Royal
Singapore
Yacht Club, beam trawl,
28.02.2012
.—1 female (ZRC 2013.1412), Tekong-Changi Channel, 01°23.628’N, 104°01.242”E, dredge, L.W. Loh coll., 0 5.08.1987.
Indonesia
.
1 male
,
1 female
(
ZRC
1970.3.13.16), unknown location,
R. Serène
coll.—CORINDON 2
:
3 males
,
5 females
(MNHN-IU-2013-9048),
Makassar Strait
, stn
CH
203,
01°08.6’S
,
117°07.5’E
,
25 m
,
30.10.1980
;
1 female
(MNHN-IU-2013-9049), stn
CH
205,
01°07.8’S
,
117°18.7’E
,
49 m
,
30.10.1980
.
FIGURE 9.
Overall dorsal view, chela and buccal area of
Chasmocarcinops gelasimoides
. A, B, Andaman Sea: male (after Alcock 1899a: pl. 62 fig. 3, 3a); C, D, Andaman Sea: female (after Alcock 1899a: pl. 62 fig. 2, 2a); E, Andaman Sea: male 8.8 × 9.5 mm (PMBC 16849); F, Andaman Sea: female 11.5 × 12.4 mm (PMBC 16894); G, Singapore: male 9.5 × 10.3 mm (ZRC 2000.1341); H, Singapore: female 9.3 × 10.6 mm (ZRC 2013.1411).
Diagnosis
. As for genus.
Remarks
. There are some slight differences between the specimens on hand from the western Pacific and Andaman Sea, including Alcock’s figures based on material from the Bay of Bengal (
Alcock & McArdle 1903
: pl. 62, figs. 2, 2a, 3, 3a): relatively larger orbits and more quadrate carapace in the western Pacific specimens. Comparison with material from the Andaman Sea showed that these differences (as well as in the granulation of the carapace and the length and general shape of the G1) are not substantial and fall within the range of individual variation. The form of the major male chela also varies, with smaller specimens (
Fig. 40
A) having less gaping fingers, strongly gaping in larger specimens (
Figs. 9
B; 40C). It is therefore best to recognise only one species for the time being.
Rathbun (1910: 340)
, who treated
Chasmocarcinops gelasmoides
as a pinnotherid, reported on many specimens from the
Gulf
of
Thailand
, mostly from shallow, soft substrates, but she recorded one male specimen that was supposedly found from inside a living scallop
Amussium pleuronectes
, and she provided a photograph of the crab inside the scallop (
Rathbun 1910: pl. 1, fig. 10
). This was listed by
Schmitt
et al.
(1973
: 130) in his review of pinnotherids.
Serène & Soh (1976: 22)
commented:
“
Rathbun (1910)
, recording
50 specimens
from the
Gulf
of
Thailand
, mentioned only one of them as having been “in shell of living
Amussium pleuronectes
". The crab
gelasimoides
and the mollusk
pleuronectes
inhabit the same grounds and are frequently mixed together in the trawl catches of the fishermen. The senior author has observed during the years several hundred specimens, but has never come across a
gelasimoides
in a shell of living
A. pleuronectes
and considers that Rathbun's observation must be attributed to chance circumstances. Rathbun did not make her observation in the field, but on preserved material collected by Mortensen several years previously. We believe that the crab and mollusk observed by Rathbun were put alive in the same basket, after being caught; the mollusk having relaxed its muscle, as is usual, the crab penetrated the shell to eat the flesh. At the fixation time, the mollusk closed its shell and kept the crab inside. Our remark on the ethology of the species provides a new reason for removing
Chasmocarcinops
from the
Pinnotheridae
.”
Serène (1964a)
had earlier transferred the species to the
Chasmocarcinidae
(as
Chasmocarcininae
). We agree with
Serène & Soh (1976)
. All the
Singapore
specimens were from dredge and grab samples from soft substrates, and all the crabs were free-living. They apparently live buried in the soft mud.
Distribution
. Indian (western
India
, Andaman Sea) and western Pacific (South
China
Sea to
Indonesia
) oceans. Depth:
9‒
49 m
.