Parasesarma kuekenthali (De Man, 1902)

Figs. 3F, 7 A–D

Material examined. 7 males, 8.2 by 6.7 mm—15.0 by 13.0 mm, 3 females, 10.8 by 8.7 mm—14.2 by 11.8 mm (ZRC; NJL191623–32), Brgy. Dona Helen, Basilisa town, Dinagat I. prov., coll. N.J. Lagare, 1 Jun. 2019 .

Remarks. Parasesarma kuekenthali (De Man, 1902) was previously described as a variety of Sesarma (Parasesarma) calypso from Halmahera, Indonesia, without any illustrations. It was subsequently treated as a subspecies of S. (P.) calypso by Tesch (1917), and as a full species by Ng et al. (2008). This species was also reported from Taiwan and the northern islands of the South China Sea (Li 2015; Li et al. 2019). Little else is known about the morphology of this species besides what is stated in the original description, making a thorough examination of the type material necessary. Shahdadi, Schubart & Mendoza (submitted) provide a re-description based on the types. The present material from Basilisa, agrees well with original description (De Man 1902: 534, 535), particularly in having 9 tubercles on the dorsal surface of the dactylus of the male chela, and the presence of low transverse ridges on the surface of these dactylar tubercles (Fig. 7A, B). The photographs of the G1 are also shown here (Fig. 7C, D) for future morphological comparisons. The Basilisa specimens were collected among rocks or from burrows in rocky-sandy substrate along a brackish stream about 300 m inland from the coast. They occurred sympatrically with Neosarmatium indicum and Ptychognathus pusillus .

New Philippine record.