Paraxiopsis De Man, 1905

Poore, Gary C. B. & Collins, David J., 2009, Australian Axiidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Axiidea), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 66 (2), pp. 221-287 : 266

Paraxiopsis De Man, 1905

Axiopsis (Paraxiopsis) De Man, 1905: 597 . Paraxiopsis . — Kensley, 1996a: 709–712.

Eutrichocheles . — Sakai and de Saint Laurent, 1989: 51 (part).

Diagnosis. Carapace and abdomen smooth or covered with numerous stiff setae; cervical groove visible laterally over half distance to anterolateral margin. Rostrum triangular, broad, laterally denticulate or unarmed, longer than eyestalks, slightly depressed below level of carapace, continuous with definite lateral carinae; supraocular spines barely differentiated from other spines; lateral carina spinose or smooth; submedian carina present, dentate or smooth; median carina smooth; postcervical carina absent. Abdominal somite 1 pleuron acute; pleuron 2 broad, anteriorly rounded, posteriorly rounded; pleura 3–5 posteriorly rounded. Eyestalk cylindrical, articulating; cornea pigmented.Antenna, scaphocerite short, acute or asymmetrically bifid. Maxilliped 3 exopod not clearly bent at base of flagellum. Pleurobranchs absent; podobranchs and arthrobranchs well developed; epipods present on maxilliped 2 to pereopod 4. Pereopods 1 asymmetrical, with propodus cylindrical; carpus-dactylus upper margins smooth. Pereopods 3–4 propodi with transverse rows of robust setae;dactyli tapering,with longitudinal row of robust setae. Pleopods 3–5, appendix interna absent. Pleopod 1 of male absent or minute article. Pleopod 2 of male without appendix interna, with appendix masculina. Uropodal exopod with transverse suture. Telson without lateral fixed spines and with posterolateral robust setae; apex rounded.

Remarks. The subgenus Paraxiopsis De Man, 1905 was synonymised with Eutrichocheles Wood-Mason, 1876 by Sakai and de Saint Laurent (1989) but later resurrected at full genus status ( Kensley, 1996a). Kensley (2003) brought the number of species to fourteen. The two genera share several features, male pleopod 1 lacking or reduced, absence of appendix interna on pleopods 2–5, and similar gastric carinae. Kensley (1996a) listed several characteristics distinguishing Paraxiopsis from Eutrichocheles , notably the absence of a postcervical carina, absence of a gape and tubercle on fingers of the cheliped, presence of a spine and absence of a notch on the telson, and small size (maximum cl. 8 mm). His differentiation was accepted with minor discrepancies by Ngoc-Ho et al. (2005) who redescribed E. modestus Wood-Mason, 1876 , type species of Eutrichocheles . Kensley (1996a) diagnosed Paraxiopsis as lacking male pleopod 1 but one male of P. pumilus displays minute digitiform male pleopods 1 (see fig. 30e) as in species of Eutrichocheles ( Ngoc-Ho et al., 2005). The female pleopod 1 is typically a uniramous appendage but in P. pauleyi Kensley, 1996a , P. majuro Kensley, 1996a , P. austrinus (fig. 29b) and P. pumilus pleopod 1 is a minute conical articulating projection similar to that seen in some males. Kensley (1996a) noted the presence of an appendix masculina on the male pleopod 2 (in spite of few species of the genus actually being documented) and this is confirmed for P. pumilus below.