Solinca, Colavite, Jessica, Windsor, Amanda & Santana, William, 2019

Colavite, Jessica, Windsor, Amanda & Santana, William, 2019, Three new species and a new genus of majoid crabs from the eastern Pacific (Decapoda, Brachyura), ZooKeys 825, pp. 1-24 : 13-14

Solinca gen. n.

Type species.

Solinca aulix gen. n. et sp. n. by monotypy and original designation. Gender feminine.

Diagnosis.

Carapace distinctly sub-circular in outline, dorsal surface prominently vaulted, particularly swollen at branchial regions. Urogastric region compressed by metabranchial lobes into a deep furrow. Four spines along dorsal midline of carapace: mesogastric, metagastric, cardiac, and intestinal. Branchiostegal region with two rows of small acute spines along molt line. Thoracic pleurites V–VII gymnopleura. Postorbital spine long, curved beyond eyes. Eyes not retractable. Endostomial ridge with two obliquely longitudinal, very curved prominences. Sterno-pleonal cavity longer than pleon plus telson, leaving gap between distal end of telson and its anterior margin. Gonopod reaching far beyond thoracic sternal suture IV/V, rather straight proximally and medially, distinctly curved inwards sub-distally, convergent anteriorly, apical plate curved down with three distinct lobes laterally.

Etymology.

The genus name is an arbitrary noun formed by the combination of the Latin Solis, “sun” and alluding to the sub-circular carapace surrounded by spines, and Inca alluding to the Inca Empire. Gender: feminine.

Remarks.

Solinca is phylogenetically allied to the epialtids Scyra acutifrons , Pugettia nipponensis , Pugettia quadridens and Chorilia longipes (Fig. 1). However, the only morphological character shared by these taxa is a distinct sulcus in each face of the chelipeds, albeit this character is less pronounced in Solinca . Considering overall morphological similarities, Solinca is closest to C. longipes in the following characters: (i) presence of several spines on the carapace in both Solinca and C. longipes (vs. carapace tuberculate or with strong spines in S. acutifrons , P. nipponensis , and P. quadridens ); (ii) supraorbital spines acute in both Solinca and C. longipes (vs. short and truncated supraorbital spines in S. acutifrons , P. nipponensis , and P. quadridens .); (iii) rostral spines rounded (vs. rostral spines flatted in S. acutifrons , P. nipponensis and P. quadridens ); (iv) long and very thin legs in Solinca and C. longipes (vs. short and robust legs in S. acutifrons , P. nipponensis , and P. quadridens ); and (v) thoracic pleurites V–VII gymnopleura in Solinca and C. longipes (vs. gymnopleura condition not present in S. acutifrons , P. nipponensis , and P. quadridens ). See remarks of the species for differences between S. aulix and Chorilia longipes .