Neocallichirus calmani ( Nobili, 1904 )

Poore, Gary C. B., 2023, New records and one new species of Callichiridae (Crustacea, Axiidea) from the Indo-West Pacific, with keys to species of Corallianassa, Lepidophthalmus and Neocallichirus, Memoirs of Museum Victoria (Mem. Mus. Vic.) 82, pp. 71-95 : 84

Neocallichirus calmani ( Nobili, 1904)

Figure 8

Callianassa (Cheramus) calmani Nobili, 1904: 237 .— Nobili, 1906: 104–15, pl. 5 fig. 2. Callichirus calmani .—de Saint Laurent and Le Loeuff, 1979: 97. Callianassa calmani .— Dworschak, 1992: 192, fig. 3. Neocallichirus calmani . — Sakai, 1999: 96–98, fig. 22a–d.— Sakai, 2011: 455.— Dworschak, 2018: 27–31, figs 6–9 (redescription, synonymy).— Poore et al., 2019: 145.— Robles et al., 2020.

Material examined. Jordan, Al Aqaba, Red Sea, in front of Holiday Inn, NMV J55684 (ex MHNH) (male, 15.1 mm; female, 13.5 mm) . USA, Mariana Is, Guam, Apra Harbour , tip of Glass Breakwater , 13.45473° N, 144.62547° E, reef slope in outer lagoon, UF 29713 (female, 7.5 mm), UF 29715 (female, 6.5 mm); W coast, near War in the Pacific Park , 13.5° N, 144.8° E, seagrass, UF 27333 (male, 8.2 mm), UF 29709 (male, 18.1 mm), UF 29711 (female, 14.1 mm), UF 29714 (male, 11.4 mm) . Australia. Qld, Lizard I., Lumus beach, silty reef, soft and hard corals, UF 17052 (female, 5.76 mm), UF 17152 (female, 28.8 mm), UF 16888 (male, 11.7 mm), UF 17002 (female, 27.2 mm), UF 17003 (female, 25. 6 mm); Lizard I., Watson’s Bay , 14.664° S, 145.4513° E, UF 17241 (female, 27. 6 mm). WA, Bernier I., beach S of Wedge Point, WAM C11999 (female, 21 mm) . Kiribati ( Gilbert Is ), Arorae I., 2° 38'S, 176° 52'E, AM P.102701 (female, 16 mm) . French Polynesia, Moorea. Papetoai, 17.49° S, 149.88498° W (stn BIZ-548), UF 29095 * (female, 7.7 mm). Shallow bay between Gump and Nihimaru, 17.4933° S, 149.8793° W (stn MIB171 ), UF16198 (female, 5.2), UF 16199 (male, 4.6 mm) .

Diagnosis. Antenna peduncle exceeding antennule peduncle by half of article 5. Eyestalk distal lobes triangular, rounded, diverging. Major cheliped merus lower margin with asymmetrically curved blade, widest and dentate over proximal half, margin concave over distal third; gape with molar-like tooth in male; fixed finger cutting edge concave, denticulate over proximal half, or smooth; dactylus cutting edge with tooth (often molar-like) one-third way along, separated by notch from distal blade (female), or with tooth (often molar-like) one-third way along, distal half smooth (male). Pereopod 3 propodus with proximally directed lobe of lower margin protruding beyond lower margin of carpus. Uropodal endopod posterior margin moderately oblique, angle with anterior margin about 30°. Telson tapering from base to continuous rounded posterolateral margin. Maximum cl. 28.8 mm.

Type locality. Obock, Djibouti .

Distribution. Western, Central and Eastern Indo-Pacific ( Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, Madagascar, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Mariana Is, Kiribati, French Polynesia, NE Australia).

Remarks. Dworschak (2018) redescribed Neocallichirus calmani in detail. The species is distinguished from congeneric species by the asymmetrically curved blade on the major cheliped merus, widest and dentate over the proximal half, the molar-like tooth in the gape of the male cheliped, and the strong dorsal curvature of the telson.

On the basis of molecular data, Robles et al. (2020) found one of three individuals collected in French Polynesia to be sister to another identified as N. calmani from Iran, close to the type locality. This small female lacks ornamentation on the cheliped merus and has sharp teeth along the margins of the cheliped (fig. 8f). This record and another from Kiribati extend the geographic range of N. calmani from throughout the Indian Ocean into the eastern Indo-West Pacific. The only other species of Neocallichirus recorded from French Polynesia is N. taiaro . Individuals from Queensland, Australia, are about twice as long as all others but could not be distinguished otherwise.