Paramunida thalie Macpherson, 1993

Cabezas, P. E., 2010, Taxonomic revision of the genus Paramunida Baba, 1988 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Galatheidae): a morphological and molecular approach, Zootaxa 2712, pp. 1-60 : 55-56

Paramunida thalie Macpherson, 1993

( Figs. 15G, 18H)

Material examined. Vanuatu. MUSORSTOM 8. Stn CP 971, 20°19'S, 169°53'E, 21 September 1994, 250– 315 m:1 M 11.5 mm, 1 ov. F 10.9 mm .

New Caledonia. BIOCAL. Stn CP 110, 22°12.38’S, 167°06.43’E, 09 September 1985, 275 m: 5 M 7.3– 10.7 mm, 3 F 7.0– 9.3 mm .

Loyalty Islands. MUSORSTOM 6. Stn 417, 20º41.8’S, 167º03.6’E, 16 February 1989, 283 m: 1 F 10.4 mm (holotype, MNHN-Ga3478) .

Chesterfield Islands . EBISCO. Stn CP 2632, 21º03.655’S, 160º44.673’E, 21 May 2005, 297– 378 m:1 M 8.8 mm .

Diagnosis. Rostrum spiniform, larger than supraocular spines, with thin dorsal carina; margin between rostral and supraocular spines straight or slightly concave. Spinules on gastric and hepatic regions usually not forming groups, lacking scaly striae and with few short uniramous setae. Mesogastric region with row of 3 well-developed spines. Cardiac region with 3 well-developed spines. Few and short setae along anterior branch of cervical groove. Sternal plastron with numerous striae on sternites 4–7. Lateral margin of antennular segment 1 with distal slender portion about half as long as proximal inflated portion. Antennal peduncle with anterior prolongation of segment 1 spiniform; segment 2 slightly longer than broad with distomesial spine spiniform, exceeding segment 3, distolateral spine not reaching end of segment 3; segment 3 twice as long as broad. Base of P1 carpus without bundle of setae. P2 propodus about 9 times as long as wide, and 1.2–1.4 times dactylus length.

Remarks. Paramunida thalie is closely related to P. amphitrita from Futuna, Fiji, Tonga and New Caledonia islands. They can be easily distinguished by the presence of numerous arcuate striae on the thoracic sternites 5–7 of P. thalie , whereas these sternites are smooth in P. amphitrita . The two species can also be differentiated by the length of the P2–4 propodi and the length of the distomesial spine of the antennal segment 2 (see Macpherson 1996). The genetic divergences between P. amphitrita and P. thalie were 4.70% (16S rRNA) and 11.16% (ND1).

Distribution. Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Chesterfield Islands, Fiji and Queensland, between 245 and 420 m.