Munidopsis crassa Smith, 1885

Published, First, 2007, Species of the genus Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1784 from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and reestablishment of the genus Galacantha A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae), Zootaxa 1417, pp. 1-135 : 57

Munidopsis crassa Smith, 1885

Munidopsis crassa Smith, 1885: 494 .— Baba, 2005: 140, 286, figs 58–60 (synonymy and references).— Macpherson & Segonzac, 2005: 20 .

Material examined. NW Madagascar, BENTHEDI, Stn CH 90, 3700 m: 1 M 20.9 mm (MNHN-Ga1576).

Remarks. The specimen examined agrees with the specimens from the Atlantic Ocean ( Macpherson & Segonzac 2005). However, the specimen from Madagascar has no epipods in P1, which are present in the Atlantic Ocean material. Additional specimens from the Indian Ocean may clarify the taxonomic value of this difference.

Distribution. Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina (type locality) to the Bay of Biscay, Azores, Canary Islands, Middle Atlantic Bight, Caribbean Sea and off Namibia, between 2679 and 5315 m ( Smith 1885, A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier 1899, Bouvier 1922, Gordon 1955, Sivertsen & Holthuis 1956, Pequegnat & Pequegnat 1971, T¸rkay 1975, Wenner 1982, Macpherson & Segonzac 2005). Recently the species has been cited in the Tasman Sea, at 3580 m ( Baba 2005). The present material is the first record in the Indian Ocean.