Paramunida stichas Macpherson, 1993

Cabezas, P. E., 2010, Taxonomic revision of the genus Paramunida Baba, 1988 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Galatheidae): a morphological and molecular approach, Zootaxa 2712, pp. 1-60 : 46-47

Paramunida stichas Macpherson, 1993

( Figs. 15E, 18G)

Paramunida stichas Macpherson, 1993: 465 , figs 9, 15 (in part, New Caledonia, Philippines, Fiji and Japan, 210–590 m); 1996: 417 (SW Pacific (Field Bank, Wallis Islands, and Bayonnaise Bank), 400–430 m); 2004: 290 ( Fiji and Tonga, 371-591 m). — Baba 2005: 304 (key, synonymies). — Poore et al. 2008: 22 (SW Australia, 388–404 m). — Baba et al. 2008: 174 (list of occurrences).

Not Paramunida stichas Macpherson, 1993: 465 (in part, specimens from Indonesia = P. salai Cabezas, Macpherson & Machordom, 2009 ).

Material examined. New Caledonia. MUSORSTOM 4. Stn 170, 18°57.00’S, 163°12.60’E, 17 September 1985, 485 m: 1 M 10.4 mm, 4 ov. F 8.3–11.2 mm. HALIPRO 1. Stn CP 877, 23°03.51'S, 166°59.20'E, 31 March 1994, 464– 480 m: 1 M 8.7 mm, 3 ov. F 9.8–11.0 mm. NORFOLK 1. Stn DW 1694, 24°40'S, 168°39'E, 24 June 2001, 575– 589 m: 1 ov. F 8.6 mm .

Vanuatu. MUSORSTOM 8. Stn CP 974, 19°21.51'S, 169°28.26'E, 22 September 1994, 492– 520 m : 5 M

Solomon Islands. SALOMON 1. Stn CP 1831, 10°12.1'S, 161°19.2'E, 05 October 2001, 135– 325 m: 4 M 8.4–12.6 mm, 2 ov. F 8.1–9.6 mm, 2 F 9.4–10.5 mm .

Tonga Islands. BORDAU 2 . Stn CP 1510, 21°04.65’S, 175°22.52’W, 31 May 2000, 461– 497 m: 2 M 9.2– 12.7 mm, 3 ov. F 10.9–12.1 mm .

Diagnosis. Rostrum spiniform, larger than supraocular spines, with thin dorsal carina; margin between rostral and supraocular spines straight or slightly concave. Spinules on gastric and hepatic regions forming groups arising from scale-like striae and with few short uniramous setae. Mesogastric region with row of 3 well-developed spines. Cardiac region with 3 well-developed spines. Few and short setae along anterior branch of cervical groove. Sternal plastron with some short striae on sternite 4, and few short striae on each side of sternites 5–7. Lateral margin of antennular segment 1 with distal slender portion about half as long as proximal inflated portion. Antennal peduncle with anterior prolongation of segment 1 spiniform; segment 2 slightly longer than broad with distomesial spine mucronated, clearly overreaching segment 3, distolateral spine nearly reaching end of segment 3; segment 3 1.5 times longer than broad. Base of P1 carpus without bundle of setae P2 propodus about 15 times as long as wide, and 1.5 times dactylus length.

Remarks. Paramunida stichas belongs to the group of species with the rostral spine longer than the supraocular spines, and with the distomesial spine of antennal segment 2 mucronated. The species is closely related to P. proxima from Philippines, off Zamboanga, Mindanao, north of the Admiralty Islands, Indonesia, Kei Islands, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. These species can be differentiated by the number of spines in the mesogastric region: a row of 3 well-developed spines in P.stichas and only 1 (rarely 2) well-developed spine in P. proxima .

The genetic divergences between P.stichas and P. proxima were 2.87% (16S rRNA) and 6.47% (ND1).

The high degree of intraspecific variability in the species P. stichas can lead to misidentification when only morphological characters are used. Therefore, a re-examination of the material from Philippines and Japan ( Macpherson 1993) using a combining approach (morphological and molecular information) would be desirable in order to confirm their taxonomic identity.

Distribution. Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Field Bank, Wallis Islands, Bayonnaise Bank, southwestern Australia, Philippines, and Japan between 135 and 591 m.