Pseudothelphusa proxima Rathbun, 1905

Magalhães, Célio & Wehrtmann, Ingo S., 2025, Taxonomic revision and distribution of the freshwater crabs of the family Pseudothelphusidae (Decapoda, Brachyura) from Guatemala, with the descriptions of two new species and keys to the species of all genera, Zoosystema 47 (26), pp. 581-615 : 609

Pseudothelphusa proxima Rathbun, 1905

( Figs 12D; 17)

Pseudothelphusa proxima Rathbun, 1904: 242 ( nomen nudum).

Pseudothelphusa proxima Rathbun, 1905: 281 , pl. 13 fig. 10; 1906: 501 (in list). — Coifmann 1939: 109 (in list). — Rodríguez 1982: 192.

Isabellagordonia ( Pseudospirothelphusa) proxima – Pretzmann 1972: 94, fig. 571.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Holotype. Guatemala • ♀, dry; Alta Verapaz, from the environs of Cobán ; [ 15°28’40”N, 90°24’08”W]; M. Bocourt leg.; Expédition du Mexique, 1864-1866; MNHN Entry 192-1866; MNHN-IU-2000-3854 (= MNHN-B3854 ).

REMARKS

Rodríguez (1982) conjectured that this species could be a junior synonym of Ps. propinqua and both are very closely related to Ph. acanthophallus . The somatic characters that describe these species do not allow a clear distinction between them and, as commented above (see Remarks on Ph. acanthophallus ), even with the relatively little material available for this study, a certain degree of morphological variation in G1 of Ph. acanthophallus was noticed, which could indicate that a complex of species could occur in this region. The resolution of this issue can only be achieved through a study that carries out a much more comprehensive inventory of the crab fauna in the department of Alta Verapaz and the surrounding region.