Praedatrypaea modesta (De Man, 1905 )

Poore, Gary C. B., 2023, New records, one new genus and 21 new species of Callianassidae (Crustacea, Axiidea) from the Indo-West Pacific, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 82, pp. 167-255 : 213

Praedatrypaea modesta (De Man, 1905)

Callianassa (Calliactites) modesta De Man, 1905: 604 .—De Man, 1928: 26, 97, 118–124, pl. 10 fig. 16, pl. 11 fig. 16.

Callianassa modesta . —Liu and Zhong, 1994: 562.— Sakai, 1999: 48.—Komai, 2000: 345 (list).— Tudge et al., 2000: 143. – Sakai, 1999: 48–49.

Cheramus modestus .— Sakai, 2011: 369.

Praedatrypaea modesta .— Poore et al., 2019: 139, 143.

Diagnosis. Antennular peduncle reaching midpoint of antennal peduncle article 5. Maxilliped 3 ischium about as long as wide; merus rectangular, dilating, about 1.2 times as wide as long, with tooth on convex distal margin. Chelipeds meri upper margins each unarmed. Major cheliped merus lower margin with spine at midpoint; carpus about as long as wide; palm 1.7 times as long as carpus, about as long as wide; fingers, cutting edges with irregular teeth along cutting edges (more prominent on fixed finger of male). Uropod endopod 1.6 times as long as wide; anterior margin convex, with 4 distal stout setae; distal-posterior margin tapered, oblique; dorsal face with 3 long spiniform setae close to posterior margin. Uropod exopod oval, 1.7 times as long as wide; anterior margin convex, setose. Telson as long as wide, widest at strong lateral lobes at one-third length; posterior margin convex, with median spine; with2 pairs of spiniform setae on posterolateral margins. Male pleopod 1 2-articled; pleopod 2 biramous.

Distribution. South China Sea, Sunda Shelf (Southern China, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia [type locality: Elat, W coast Kai Besar, 27 m]); 27– 310 m.

Remarks. De Man (1905) listed 12 specimens from four Siboga stations in Indonesia, from 27 to 310 m depth. De Man (1928a: 124) selected the largest female from Siboga stn 261 (Elat, west coast of “Great-Kei-Island” [Kai Besar], 27 m) as the lectotype. Sakai’s subsequent (1999) lectotype designation of a male from Siboga stn 116 was unnecessary.

This diagnosis was based on De Man’s (1928) figures supplemented by sketches of males and females from the Gulf of Siam, Malaysia ( ZMUC CRU-3832 – CRU-3836 ; recatalogued in part as NHMD 81684 ) and from the MNHN Panglao expedition to the Philippines kindly shared by Peter C. Dworschak (pers. comm., 15 Jun 2018). Praedatrypaea modesta differs from others in the possession of three long facial spiniform setae near the posterodistal margin of the uropodal endopod and a rectangular (not oval) pereopod 3 propodus. The species is notable for the strong irregular teeth on the male major cheliped .