Eiconaxius acutifrons ( Bate, 1888 )

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 137

Eiconaxius acutifrons ( Bate, 1888)

( Fig. 32B)

Axius acutifrons Bate, 1888: 40 , pl. 5, fig. 2. — Faxon 1893: 193; 1895: 103, pl. 28, fig. 2. — de Man 1925: 15, 37, pl. 3, figs. 5–5e. — Wicksten 1982: 246, fig. 1; 1989b: 312.

Eiconaxius acutifrons . — Sakai & de St. Laurent 1989: 15. — Hendrickx 1995b: 157.— Kensley 1996b: 475. — Poore & Collins 2007: 40.

Diagnosis. Rostrum broad, with smooth margins or very small denticles, median rostral carina entire to slightly serrate. Carapace smooth, rounded. Eyes without pigment. Third maxilliepds slender. Chelipeds stout, merus with teeth, palm with longitudinal lateral ridge, 4 teeth along dorsal midline, fixed finger of chela with large tooth near proximal end of cutting edge, small teeth beyond it; movable finger with notch into which large tooth inserts. Pereopod 2 chelate. Posterior pereopods with small, sharp dactyls. Abdominal somites smooth, with pointed pleura. Telson with medial row of teeth, row of teeth on dorsal midline of uropod. Female total length 29 mm, male not reported.

Color in life. Creamy white.

Habitat and depth. Sand, mud or rubble bottoms, or among hexactinellid sponges, 595–2310 m. Specimens from California lived inside a sponge .

Range. Off Banda I. and Great Kei I., Indonesia, off Mariato Point , Panama, and south of San Clemente I., California. Type locality off Banda I ..

Remarks. Kensley (1996b) described a new species, Eiconaxius baja , from off Baja California, Mexico, but did not mention the record of a species of Eiconaxius from off California. It would be useful to to compare the specimen on which the above record is based with the description of E. baja .