Philyra globus ( Fabricius, 1775 ), 2009

Galil, Bella S., 2009, An examination of the genus Philyra Leach, 1817 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Leucosiidae) with descriptions of seven new genera and six new species, Zoosystema 31 (2), pp. 279-320 : 283-284

Philyra globus ( Fabricius, 1775) ( Figs 1 ; 2A )

Cancer globus Fabricius, 1775: 401 (p.p.).

Cancer porcellaneus Herbst, 1783: 92 , pl. 2, fig. 18.

Cancer globosus – Fabricius 1793: 441 (p.p.).

Leucosia globosa – Fabricius 1798: 349 (p.p.).

Leucosia globulosa Bosc, 1802: 238 ; 1830: 289.

Philyra globosa – de Man 1888: 202. — Alcock 1896: 243. — Laurie 1906: 364. — Stephensen 1945: 83, fig. 12d-f. — Chhapgar 1957: 407, pl. 2k-m. — Deb 1998: 358.

Philyra polita Henderson, 1893: 401 , pl. 38, figs 1-3.

Philyra globossa – Khan & Ahmad 1979: 74 (incorrect spelling).

Philyra porcellana – K. Sakai 1999: 18, pl. 7D.

Non Philyra globulosa H. Milne Edwards, 1837 ( Milne Edwards 1836 -1844): pl. 24, fig. 4, 4a, 4b; 1837: 132 (= Philyra heterograna Ortmann, 1892 ).

Non Philyra globosa – Barnard 1947: 373; 1950: 380, fig. 72f-h. — Kensley 1981: 39 (= Philyra samia n. sp.).

Non Philyria globulosa – Devi et al. 1988: 21, fig. 2 (incorrect spelling) (= Ryphila cancellus ( Herbst, 1783)) .

TYPE MATERIAL. — Lectotype: India. Malabar, coll. Dr J. G. Koenig, id. J. C. Fabricius as Cancer globus (labelled as Syntype 2, designated as lectotype by Holthuis [1962]), 1 ovig. ♀ cl 17.0 mm ( ZMK CRU3997 ).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — India. Madras, coll. J. R. Henderson, syntypes of Philyra polita , 4 ♂♂ cl 14.2-20.1 mm, 6 ♀♀ cl 16.3-17.8 mm ( NHM 1892.7.15.389-398) (the ♂ cl 20.1 mm is here designated the lectotype and the remaining specimens are now considered to be paralectotypes). — Calcutta, Orissa coast, 5.X.1898, 1 ♂ cl 19.7 mm, 1 ♀ cl 15.9 mm, ex. Indian Museum, id. A. Alcock as Philyra globosa ( ZMK CRU 4256). — Madras, 1 ♂ cl 18.8 mm ( NHM 1999.6). — Kasimedu Fish Landing, Madras, XI.2004, coll. Z. Jaafar, 1 ♂ cl 18.0 mm ( ZRC).

Sri Lanka. Coll. W. A. Herdman, 2 ♀♀ cl 14.4, 14.5 mm ( NHM 1907.5.22.62-64).

Andaman Sea. Mergui Archipelago, id. Prof. A. R. S. Anderson as Philyra globosa , 1 ♀ cl 15.2 mm, ( RMNH).

Indian Ocean. Coll. C. von Hügel, 2 ♂♂ ( NMW 19046).

DISTRIBUTION. — Indian Ocean: Persian Gulf, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Mergui Archipelago.

DESCRIPTION

Dorsal surface of carapace minutely punctuate, bearing closely-spaced minute flattened granules. Front strongly deflexed anteriorly, frontal margin bearing triangular denticle medially.Circumference of carapace behind front evenly beaded. Anterior margin of epistome slightly arcuate, inner angles of afferent branchial canals slightly prominent. Margins of external maxillipeds minutely granulate, exopod subquadrate, shovel-like. Pterygostomian region closely granulate. Anterolateral margin very slightly sinuous, posterolateral margin arcuate. Thoracic sternites granulate. Anterior margin of abdominal sulcus in male specimens beaded. Fused male abdominal segments 3-6 bearing granulate basal knobs separated by a concavity. Margins of fused abdominal segments in female beaded, granulate stripe proximally. Cheliped merus rugose, bearing perliform granules, increasingly smaller, sparser, distally. Carpus and propodus nearly smooth, but for granulate stripe on lower surface of latter. Fingers punctate; inner margins minutely denticulate.Lower margin of merus of last pereiopod minutely granulate; meri of pereiopods 1-3 bear line of increasingly minute granules along ventral margin; carpi and propodi smooth; upper margin of propodus of first pereiopod carinate, lower margin bicarinate in male, unicarinate in female specimens; propodi of pereiopods 2-4 unicarinate on upper, lower margins. Male first pleopod with sinuous apical process, bearing line of cirri distad, with subterminal alate and cirrate process, tip vermicular, curved interiorly.

Colour “In spirit: smoky bluish brown above, the blue deepest on the carapace.” ( Alcock 1896: 244); “Sandy brown with bluish tinge” ( Khan & Ahmad 1979: 74).

REMARKS

Fabricius’ (1775: 401) description of Cancer globus (“Thorace laevi, subcrenato, cauda basi binodi, brachiis scabris […] Parvus, subglobosus, thorace undique crenato. Brachia scabra, manus filiformes.”) may fit more than one species. Indeed, Fabricius’ two syntypes belong to different species (see above). Alcock (1896: 243), who realized that, referred to P.globosa only “Fabricius’ female type as re-described by De Man”. His detailed description includes several characters that clearly identify his specimens, i.e. the medially acuminate deflexed front, carinate propodi, the two linear basal segments of the male abdomen, and lack of median denticle on the fused abdominal segments. The photograph of Herbst’s specimen of Cancer porcellaneus , preserved in the Berlin Zoological Museum ( ZMB Herbst 2194) ( K. Sakai 1999: pl. 7D) is clearly that of P. globus . From the characters used by Henderson (1893: 401) to separate P. polita from P. globosa – presence of branchio-cardiac grooves and abdominal denticle, marginal carapacial granules of varying size and prominently granulate chelipeds – it is clear he confused the latter species with Lyphira perplexa n. sp. Examination of Henderson’s (1893: pl. 38, figs 1-3) material and figures leaves no doubt as to the identity of his species. The present study agrees with Stephensen (1945: 83) that though the specimens collected in the Persian Gulf “are rather small and so do not agree with the characters [of P. globosa ] […] the disagreements are so small, that they probably are due to the difference in size”.

Figures

FIG. 1. — Philyra globus (Fabricius, 1775) n. comb., ♂ cl 18.8 mm (NHM 1999.6): A, dorsal view; B, ventral view.

FIG. 2. — A, Philyra globus (Fabricius,1775) n. comb., ♂ cl 18.8 mm (NHM 1999.6),first male pleopod, distal end of first male pleopod; B, P. samia n. sp., ♂ holotype, cl 21.6 mm, South Africa (SAM A8335), first male pleopod, distal end of first male pleopod; C, Afrophila punctata (Bell,1855) n. comb.,♂ cl 20.1 mm, South Africa (USNM 252713),first male pleopod,distal end of first male pleopod,second male pleopod; D, Atlantolocia laevidorsalis (Miers, 1881) n. comb., ♂ lectotype cl 15.4 mm, Senegal, Gorée I. (NHM 1881.24), first male pleopod, distal end of first male pleopod; E, Atlantophila cristata (Miers, 1881) n. comb., ♂ lectotype cl 5.7 mm, Senegal, Gorée I. (NHM 1881.24), first male pleopod, dorsal and ventral views; F, Hiplyra platycheir (De Haan, 1841) n. comb., ♂ cl 15.5 mm, Japan (NSMT 9661), first male pleopod, distal end of first male pleopod. Scale bars: 1 mm.