Munida benguela de Saint Laurent and Macpherson, 1988

McCallum, Anna W., Ahyong, Shane T. & Andreakis, Nikos, 2021, New species of squat lobsters of the genus Munida from Australia, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 80, pp. 113-152 : 139

Munida benguela de Saint Laurent and Macpherson, 1988

Munida benguela de Saint Laurent and Macpherson, 1988: 106 , figs 1, 2a, 2c, 3a, 3d, 3f–i (type locality: south of Namibia). — Baba et al., 2008: 89.

Material examined. Western Australia: NMV J56405 , 1 male (damaged; cl 11.6 mm, pcl 8.2 mm), SS05/2007/176, Kulumburu L 29 transect, 13° 13.482' S 123° 23.742' E to 13° 13.338' S 123° 23.286' E, 392 m, 5 July 2007.

Genetic data. Not available.

Remarks. Although this specimen is damaged, most diagnostic characters are evident. In M. benguela , the P2 dactylus has 6–8 spines with the ultimate being distant from the unguis. Similarly, our specimen has 8 spines and is unarmed on the distal one-third. In M. benguela , the fixed finger of the chela has at least 4 spines on the lateral margin which agrees with our specimen. However, our specimen lacks any spines on the mesial margin of the moveable finger while M. benguela has a subdistal spine and an additional 2–4 spines on the mesial margin.

Distribution. South African coast between S Namibia and Natal, and Madagascar; 352–1000 m. North-west Australia, 392 m.