Two new genera and two new species of troglobitic false spider crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae) from Indonesia, with notes on Cancrocaeca Ng, 1991
Author
Naruse, Tohru
Author
Ng, Peter K. L.
Author
Guinot, Danièle
text
Zootaxa
2008
1739
21
40
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.181452
0e6e9d41-cb9a-4ec3-a951-bf5f2eb06577
1175-5326
181452
Cancrocaeca xenomorpha
Ng, 1991
(
Figs. 1
,
2
)
Cancrocaeca xenomorpha
—
Ng, 1991
: 59
, figs. 1–7;
Ng & Chuang, 1996
: 17
, fig. 5; Guinot & Richer de
Forges, 1997
: 456
, fig. 9;
Deharveng
et al.
, 2002
: 36
.
Material examined.
Holotype
.
Male, 4.1 ×
4.7 mm
,
ZRC
1990.11971, Lubang Batu Neraka, Kappang, Maros, Sulawesi,
Indonesia
, coll. P. Leclerc,
4 Aug. 1990
.
Paratypes
.
One ovigerous female, 5.6 ×
6.2 mm
,
ZRC
1990.11972, data same as
holotype
;
1 male
, 3.6 × 4.0 mm,
ZRC
1990.0484, Gua Tanette, Kappang, Maros, Sulawesi,
Indonesia
, coll. P. Leclerc,
18 Jul. 1989
.
Others. Two males, 3.9 × 5.3, 4.0 ×
5.3 mm
, 1 ovigerous female, 4.2 ×
5.5 mm
,
MZB
Cru 1652, Gua Samanggi, Samanggi, Sulawesi Selatan,
Indonesia
, coll. L. Deharveng, I. Andayani & A. Bedos,
31 Jul. 2001
;
1 male
, 3.7 × 5.0 mm, 1 ovigerous female, 4.1 ×
5.2 mm
,
ZRC
2007.0118, data same as
MZB
Cru 1652.
Remarks.
Ng (1991)
established a monotypic genus
Cancrocaeca
for one new species,
C. xenomorpha
, from Sulawesi. He regarded this species as the most highly adapted troglobitic brachyuran, with complete loss of eyes and coloration. The examination of additional larger specimens (MZB Cru 1652) of
C. xenomorpha
, as well as the
type
specimens, reveals that all of these specimens actually have remnants of eyes (
Fig. 1
a, b). These vestigial structures are very short, rounded, fused to the carapace and immobile, and there is no trace of a clear peduncle, cornea or pigmentation. In larger individuals, these vestigial eyes are relatively bigger when compared to small individuals, with the tips visible in dorsal view. Even so,
C. xenomorpha
still possesses one of the most reduced ocular structures known for any brachyuran crab. Only the deep sea hydrothermal vent crabs of the genus
Austinograea
Hessler & Martin, 1989
(Bythograeidae)
have eyes reduced to almost the same extent (see
Guinot 1990
: 892–896, figs. 1, 4).
Cancrocaeca
has other unusual characters. The female abdomen of
C. xenomorpha
is strongly convex externally, forming a prominent dome-shape (
Fig. 2
b, c); the second to fifth segments bear biramous and long setose pleopods, which develop from distal outer angles of the inner surface of second to fifth abdominal segments (
Fig. 2
c, e–h). The exopods of the third to fifth pleopods lie along lateral margins of the abdomen and cover the margin of the inner surface of the dome-shaped abdomen. There are only a few (ca. 40) relatively large eggs (
0.59–0.64 mm
diameter) (ZRC 2007.0118, 4.1 ×
5.2 mm
). However, these eggs do not appear to be attached to the pleopods or any other structures, and will freely roll out when the abdomen is opened. The median parts of thoracic sternum are fused and form a relatively flat, undivided structure (
Fig. 2
a) composed of a relatively thick cuticle, and no eggs are placed inside the cephalothorax cavity. The vulva of
C. xenomorpha
is also unusual in being raised, with a large, conical basal mount, and it is placed on along an imaginary line joining bases of P3 on the medial fused plate of the thoracic sternum (
Fig. 2
a).
FIGURE 1.
Cancrocaeca xenomorpha
Ng, 1991
: a, carapace, dorsal view; b, carapace, frontal view; c, male abdomenpleotelson; d, right G1, dorsal view; e, distal part of right G1, ventral view. Male, ZRC 2007.0118, 3.7 × 5.0 mm. Scale bars, 1 mm.
Cancrocaeca
appears to be most similar to
Limnopilos
and
Hymenicoides
in the absence of a rostrum (although
L. microrhynchus
(Ng, 1995)
does possess a very short rostrum (see
Ng 1991
: 61, fig. 2A, B;
Chuang & Ng 1991
: fig. 1a).
Cancrocaeca
is also similar to species of
Amarinus
, especially
A. laevis
(
Targioni-Tozzetti, 1877
)
, in having freely articulating male abdominal segments (
Ng 1991
: 61, figs. 2E, F, 4A–C; Guinot & Richer de
Forges 1997
: fig. 4E) and a stout G1 with a complex distal structure (
Lucas 1980
: fig. 10A, D;
Ng 1991
: figs. 3B, 6, 7). The G1 of
A. laevis
, however, is not strongly bent medially, is not twisted basally, and does not have a lamellar expansion and long setae on the distal outer margin (present study;
Lucas 1980
: fig. 10), features prominent in species of
Cancrocaeca
,
Limnopilos
and
Hymenicoides
(fig. 1d, e; see Ng 1995: fig. 14A, B;
Ng & Chuang 1996
: fig. 21H;
Naruse & Ng 2007b
: figs. 2, 5c, d, 8c).
Amarinus laevis
also differs from the species of
Cancrocaeca
,
Limnopilos
and
Hymenicoides
by its bell-shaped male abdomen-pleotelson (
Lucas, 1980: fig. 7A
) (barrel-shaped in
Cancrocaeca
,
Limnopilos
and
Hymenicoides
,
Fig. 1
c; Ng 1995: fig. 13G;
Ng & Chuang 1996
: fig. 21E;
Naruse & Ng 2007b
: figs. 5a, 8a), and the absence of the basal mount of the female vulva (present in
Cancrocaeca
,
Limnopilos
and
Hymenicoides
, fig. 3a;
Naruse & Ng 2007b
: 18, 22, 26, 27). These characters indicate that
Cancrocaeca
may be phylogenetically closer to
Limnopilos
and
Hymenicoides
rather than to
Amarinus
.
The lateral lobes of the sixth abdominal segment in the
Hymenosomatidae
, usually located at the base of the pleotelson, and sometimes appearing as intercalary platelets (which may be movable), correspond to the location of the deep sockets for the abdominal locking mechanism (see Guinot & Richer de
Forges 1997
: 466, figs. 2A, 4, 5, 6AE;
Guinot & Bouchard 1998
: 658, 683, fig. 27). The form of this structure is a good generic criterion.
Ng & Chuang (1996)
considered
Limnopilos
as a junior subjective synonym of
Hymenicoides
, but
Naruse & Ng (2007b)
resurrected
Limnopilos
emphasising differences in the locking mechanism of the male abdomen and G1 (
Naruse & Ng 2007b
: figs. 1, 2a, b, 5a, c, 8a, c).
Cancrocaeca xenomorpha
is more similar to
Limnopilos
species than to
Hymenicoides
species in having a slender shaft of the G1 and less produced lateral lobes of the male pleotelson.
Hymenicoides
species are distributed along the Indian Ocean coasts (
H. carteri
Kemp, 1917
, near Kolkata (= Calcutta),
India
and Ganges Basin,
Bangladesh
;
H. robertsi
Naruse & Ng, 2007
,
Myanmar
), whereas
Limnopilos
species are distributed on the South
China
Sea and Gulf of
Thailand
coasts [
L. naiyanetri
Chuang & Ng, 1991
, Gulf of
Thailand
;
L. microrhynchus
(Ng, 1995)
, Sabah, Borneo;
L. sumatrana
Naruse & Ng, 2007
, South
China
Sea, coast of Sumatra], which is geographically closer to the distributional range of
C. xenomorpha
(Sulawesi)
. The close geographical distribution as well as the morphological similarities suggest that
Limnopilos
is closer to
Cancrocaeca
.