Hermit crabs of the genus Calcinus Dana, 1851 (Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae) from the Austral Islands, French Polynesia, with description of a new species
Author
Poupin, Joseph
Author
Lemaitre, Rafael
text
Zootaxa
2003
391
1
20
journal article
51233
10.5281/zenodo.156640
680b944d-21c9-4385-8992-f385dea01838
11755326
156640
Calcinus
aff.
sirius
Morgan, 1991
(
Figs. 1
d, 4, 5b)
Material examined.
French Polynesia
, Austral Islands
, BENTHAUS Expedition.
Rapa
, stn DW 1894,
27°40.13’S
,
144°21.51’W
,
100 m
,
8.xi.2002
: 1 ov. Ψ
5.5 mm
(
MNHN
Pg 6395).
Diagnosis.
Ocular acicles terminating in simple spine. Left chela (
Fig. 5
b) with outer face regularly convex; upper margin of palm with 7 blunt spines; lower margin with few tubercles on distal half. Upper margin of right chela with 6 corneoustipped spines. Dactyl of P2 (
Fig. 4
a, b) with 10 movable spines on ventral margin. Dactyl of P3 (
Fig. 4
c) slightly shorter than propodus, with 7 mobile spines on ventral margin. Ventrodistal pilosity of P3 weak, not much different from that of P2 (
Fig. 4
b, c). Telson with posterior lobes each armed with single terminal spine. Shield and posterior carapace orange (
Fig. 1
d). Ocular peduncles pale orange on proximal third, fading gradually to white on distal twothirds. Antennular peduncles orange, becoming pale on distal fourth of terminal segment. Antennal peduncles orange, with whitetipped spines. Chelipeds bright orange. Ambulatory legs orange, with minute dark orange spots on setal pores. Abdomen redbrown; eggs red.
Habitat
. The single specimen was found on coral bottom, at
100 m
.
Remarks
. Morgan's (1991)
Calcinus sirius
is known from eastern
Australia
(
Norfolk
and Lord Howe Islands, Middleton and Elizabeth reefs, at
2–22 m
), at a latitude similar to that of Rapa where the specimen of
C.
aff.
sirius
was collected. Should the specimen reported here be confirmed in the future to be
C. sirius
, it would represent a considerable range extension for this species.
In the specimen of
C.
aff.
sirius
from Rapa, the ocular acicles, telson, left and right chelae, and ventral armature of the dactyl of P2, are similar to those of
C. sirius
. However, the ventrodistal pilosity of P3 is similar to that of P
2 in
the Rapa specimen, whereas pilosity is slightly more pronounced on P3 than on P
2 in
C. sirius
. Based on a single specimen it is not possible to determine the extent of variation that might exist in the ventrodistal pilosity of P3 and P2, a character known to vary intraspecifically in at least some
Calcinus
species (see
Poupin & McLaughlin 1998
: 22). The bright orange coloration of the specimen of
C.
aff.
sirius
also seems to differ from that of
C. sirius
, which at least in preserved specimens has been described as brown or dark brown, with cream on fingers and palm of chelae (Morgan 1991). Until ventrodistal pilosity of P2 and P3, and coloration can be fully evaluated in additional specimens from
French Polynesia
, and coloration of live
C. sirius
is documented, it is best to refer our specimen to
C.
aff.
sirius
.
Morphologically, the specimen of
Calcinus
aff.
sirius
bears some superficial resemblance to
C. albengai
, collected at the same station. However, it clearly differs from
C. albengai
in coloration (
Fig. 1
a, d), shape of left chela (
Fig. 5
a, b), and number of spines on the ventral margin of the dactyl of P2 (
10 in
C.
aff.
sirius
,
6–8 in
C. albengai
).