Munida gregaria ( Fabricius, 1793 )

Ahyong, Shane T. & Poore, Gary C. B., 2004, Deep-water Galatheidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from southern and eastern Australia, Zootaxa 472 (1), pp. 1-76 : 32-33

Munida gregaria ( Fabricius, 1793)

Galathea gregaris Fabricius, 1793: 473 [type locality: south Atlantic Ocean , 37°30’S].

Munida gregaria . — Davie, 2002: 63–64.

Galathea subrugosa White, 1847: 66 [nomen nudum].

Munida subrugosa Dana, 1852: 479 , pl. 30: fig. 7a–b [type locality: Hermite Island, Tierra del Fuego]. — Filhol, 1885: 425. — Sayce, 1902: 155. — Haig, 1973: 274. — Healy & Yaldwyn, 1970: 68, fig. 33.

Munida subrugosa australiensis Henderson, 1885: 125 , pl. 13: figs. 3, 3a–b [type locality: E of Moncoeur Island, Bass Strait]; 1888: 126, pl. 13: figs. 3, 3a–b. — Ortmann, 1892: 254.

Munida australiensis . — Benedict, 1902: 306.

Material examined. NEW SOUTH WALES: AM P5793 , 3 males (10.8–13.3 mm), 1 female (12.3 mm), 4.8–6.4 km off Eden, 46–55 m, A. Livingstone & H. Fletcher, May 1922 ; AM P11892, 2 males (8.3–10.5 mm), 1 female (11.2 mm), off Eden , 37°04’S, 150°10’S, 102 m , CSIRO, 9 Mar 1948 ; AM P9464 , 6 males (10.0– 13.9 mm), 4 females (11.9–12.3 mm), off Montague Island , 36°15’S, 150°14’E, 128 m, State Fisheries, 26 Jun 1929 .

TASMANIA: AM E1057 , 8 males (9.5–24.0 mm) , 47 females (10.5–19.9 mm), E coast of Flinders Island, Bass Strait , 40°01’S, 148°02’E, 53 m, FIS Endeavour, 17 May 1909 ; SAM, 2 males (18.5–19.5 mm), Mercury Passage, 20 m, in scallop collectors, C. Gardner, Mar 1997 .

Remarks. The specimens agree well with published accounts ( Henderson 1885, 1888, Haig 1973). Munida gregaria is readily distinguished from other Australian species of Munida in having spines on the anterior margin of the fourth abdominal somite.

Distribution. New Zealand, subantarctic islands, Patagonia, Falkland Islands, off Uruguay, and southern Australia from southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania; 20–1097 m.