Galathea whiteleggii Grant & McCulloch, 1906

Macpherson, Enrique & Robainas-Barcia, Aymee, 2015, Species of the genus Galathea Fabricius, 1793 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with descriptions of 92 new species, Zootaxa 3913 (1), pp. 1-335 : 319-321

Galathea whiteleggii Grant & McCulloch, 1906

( Fig. 114 )

Galathea whiteleggii Grant & McCulloch, 1906: 45 , pl. 4, figs 2, 2a (off Wata Mooli (= Wattamolla) and Port Jackson, NSW, 99–108 m).— Davie, 2002: 62 (no record).— Baba, 2005: 245 (key, synonymies).—Baba et al., 2008: 81 (compilation).

Not Galathea whiteleggii . — Dong & Li, 2010: 22 , fig. 14 (South China Sea, 46–105 m) (= Galathea halia n. sp.).

Dubious identifications:

Galathea whiteleggii . — McNeill, 1968: 33 (Great Barrier Reef, off Low Island, 22 m).— Haig, 1973: 278, fig. 2g (off Dunwich, Moreton Bay Queensland, 7.3 m).— Poore, 2004: 232, fig. 63h (compilation).

Galathea whiteleggei .— Tirmizi, 1966: 186, fig. 9 (South Arabian Sea, 38 m).— Tirmizi & Javed, 1993: 57, fig. 25 (Bay of Bengal, 2417 m (depth remains questionable)).

Material examined. Syntypes. New South Wales. 5.5–6.5 Km off Wattamolla, 34.17°S, 151.18°E, 99 m, 22 March 1898: 2 F 3.0– 3.1 mm (AM-G2394)

Description. Carapace: As long as broad; transverse ridges with dense short or moderately long fine setae, without long plumose setae; cervical groove distinct, laterally bifurcated. Gastric region with 8 transverse ridges; 2 epigastric ridges, anterior one medially convex anteriorly, with 2 median spines, posterior ridge scale-like and placed medially; 2 protogastric ridges, anterior one uninterrupted and not reaching carapace margins; 2 mesogastric ridges, anterior one uninterrupted and not extending laterally to anteriormost branchial spines, posterior ridge scale-like; 2 metagastric ridges, anterior one uninterrupted, continuing laterally to anteriorbranchial ridges, posterior ridge short. Anterior branchial region with distinct ridges. Mid-transverse ridge uninterrupted, preceded by shallow cervical groove, followed by 5 ridges, 4 of them uninterrupted. Lateral margins well convex medially, with 7 spines: 2 spines in front of, and 5 spines behind, anterior cervical groove; first anterolateral, second small, located at midlength between first spine and anterior cervical groove; 2 spines on anterior branchial margin, and 3 spines on posterior branchial margin, last small; additional spine ventral to between first and second lateral spine. External orbital limit ending in small spine; infraorbital margin with 1 spine. Rostrum broad triangular, 1.7 times as long as broad, length 0.5 postorbital carapace length and breadth 0.3 that of carapace, nearly horizontal in lateral view; dorsal surface with small setiferous ridges; lateral margin with 4 deeply incised sharp teeth.

Pterygostomian flap rugose, with sparse short setae, anterior margin spiniform.

Sternum: Plastron about as long as broad, lateral extremities gently divergent posteriorly.

Abdomen: Somites 2–4 each with 2 transverse ridges on tergite, with 2 additional interrupted ridges between, anterior ridge more distinctly elevated than posterior ridge; somite 5 with 1 or 2 uninterrupted and 1 medially interrupted ridges; somite 6 with some scale-like ridges.

Eyes: Ocular peduncles 1.5 times longer than broad, maximum corneal diameter 0.8 rostrum width.

Antennule: Basal article of antennular peduncle with 3 well-developed spines, distodorsal larger; distomesial spine also well-developed, subequal in length to but somewhat more slender than distolateral. Ultimate article with a few fine setae not in tuft on distodorsal margin.

Antenna: Article 1 with ventral distomesial spine exceeding distal margin of article 2. Article 2 with 2 welldeveloped distal spines, distolateral spine barely reaching end of article 3, distomesial spine subequal to distolateral. Articles 3 and 4 unarmed.

Mxp3: Ischium with well-developed distal spine on flexor margin; extensor margin with small but distinct distal spine; crista dentata with 21 or 22 denticles. Merus shorter than ischium; flexor margin with 3 spines of subequal size, proximal one located at midlength, distal one at terminal end; extensor margin with small distal spine, additional small spine at midlength. Carpus unarmed.

P1–4: missing in both syntypes.

Epipods on P1.

Remarks. Galathea whiteleggii was described on the basis of two specimens collected from New South Wales, Australia. Since then, the species has been recorded from other localities: Queensland ( McNeill 1968; Haig 1973), southern Arabian Sea ( Tirmizi 1966), Bay of Bengal ( Tirmizi & Javed 1993), South China Sea ( Dong & Li 2010). The accounts and illustrations provided by above authors clearly suggest that their specimens belong to different species. As described above, G. whiteleggii is characterized by the absence of hepatic and parahepatic spines on the carapace. These spines (one or both) are present in the material collected by the above mentioned authors, indicating that they are not G. whiteleggii . We did not examine those published specimens, and then identities of vast majority of them remain to be verified. Nevertheless, the specimens reported from the South China Sea by Dong & Li (2010) could be referred to G. halia n. sp.

Galathea whiteleggii resembles G. atua n.sp. from the French Polynesia, however, G. whiteleggii is easily differentiated from this species by the following features:

- The anterior metagastric ridge is uninterrupted, continuing laterally to anteriorbranchial ridges, in G. whiteleggii , whereas this ridge is laterally interrupted in G. a t u a.

- The Mxp3 merus has three spines along the flexor margin in G. whiteleggii , instead of 2 spines in G. atua . - There are four uninterrupted transverse ridges behind the mid-transverse ridge of the carapace in G. whiteleggii , rather than two in G. atua .

No genetic data are available for G. whiteleggii .

Distribution. Australia, New South Wales, 99– 108 m.

Figures

FIGURE 114. Galathea whiteleggii Grant & McCulloch, 1906, syntype, female, 3.0 mm, Australia, New South Wales (G 2394). A, carapace and abdomen, dorsal view; B, thoracic sternites 3 and 4; C, right pterygostomian region, lateral view; D, left part of cephalothorax, ventral view, showing antennular and antennal peduncles, and anterior part of pterygostomian flap; E, ischium, merus and carpus of right Mxp 3, lateral view. Scale: A, C = 1 mm; B, D, E = 0.5 mm.