Pinnotheres hickmani ( Guiler, 1950 )

Ahyong, Shane T. & Brown, Diane E., 2003, Description of Durckheimia lochi n. sp., with an annotated checklist of Australian Pinnotheridae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura), Zootaxa 254, pp. 1-20 : 13-14

Pinnotheres hickmani ( Guiler, 1950)

Fabia hickmani Guiler, 1950: 67 –72, figs. 1–4 [type locality: Derwent River, Tasmania]. — Guiler, 1952: 40. — Schmitt et al., 1973: 24.

Pinnixa faba . — Thomson, 1893: 49. — Guiler, 1952: 40. [Not Pinnixa faba (Dana, 1851) ].

Pinnoteres pisum . — Fulton & Grant, 1906: 18. [Not P. p i s u m (Linnaeus, 1767)].

Pinnotheres pisum . — Wellington & Hiscock, 1969: 333. — Griffin & Yaldwyn, 1971: 57 –58. [Not P. p i s u m (Linnaeus, 1767)].

Pinnotheres novaezelandiae . — Rathbun, 1923: 98. [Not P. novaezelandiae Filhol, 1885 a].

Pinnotheres novae ­zealandiae. — Guiler, 1952: 40; 1956: 7 [not P. novaezelandiae Filhol, 1885 a].

Pinnotheres hickmani . — Pregenzer, 1978: 127 –139; 1979a: 22–29, figs. 1, 2, 5–6, 8, 11, 13–16, 17, 19, 19A, 21–23, 29; 1979b: 547–550. — Page, 1983: 156. — Phillips et al., 1984: 116. — Jones, 1990: 202. — Davie, 2002: 433.

Material. TAS: AM E5676, 1 female (cw 8.5 mm, cl 8.4 mm), E coast of Flinders Id., Bass Strait, 40°01’S, 148°02’E, FIS Endeavour, 1909–1914. VIC: AM P15608, 5 females (cw 5.6–9.2 mm, cl 5.3–8.8 mm), Port Phillip, 37°58’S, 144°54’E, 12 m, from Mytilus sp., I. Hiscock, 1967. NSW: AM P10094, 1 female (cw 9.4 mm, cl 9.0 mm), Sow & Pigs Shoal, Port Jackson, 33°50.3’S, 151°16.2’E, from ‘large black mussel’, L. Comtesse, May 1930; AM P5500, 1 male (cw 6.2 mm, cl 6.2 mm), near Cape Hawke, 32°13’S, 152°34’E, from pippi, J. Kinghorn; AM P4870, 1 male (cw 2.7 mm, cl 2.6 mm), 4 females (cw 6.2– 8.8 mm, cl 5.7–8.1 mm), Port Stephens, from Donax between mantle and gills, 152°06’E, E. Briggs, Sep 1919; AM P11481, 1 male (cw 4.7mm, cl 4.4 mm), 6 females (cw 5.3–8.5 mm, cl 4.6–7.3 mm), Brunswick Heads, 28°32’S, 153°33’E, from pippi, C. Chadwick; AM P4003, 10 females (cw 8.3–10.0 mm, cl 7.7–8.4 mm), S of Tweed Heads, 28°10’S, 153°33’E, from Donax deltoides on sandy beach, J. Campbell. QLD: AM P2217, 2 females (cw 8.7–10.0 mm, cl 7.4–7.8 mm), Mud Id., Moreton Bay, 27°20’S, 153°15’E, A. McCulloch.

Australian localities. Moreton Bay, southern Queensland to Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, to Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Australian hosts. Bivalve molluscs. Mytilus sp., Eumarcia fumigata (Sowerby, 1853) , Modiolus sp. (all Mytilidae ) ( Griffin & Yaldwyn 1971, Pregenzer 1978). Neotrigonia margaritacea (Lamarck, 1804) (Trigoniidae) ( Wellington & Hiscock 1969). Donax deltoides Lamarck, 1818 (Donacidae) (this study).

Remarks. Davie (2002) noted that Rathbun’s (1923) record of Pinnotheres novaezelandiae (Filhol) from Bass Strait required verification. According to previous authors, Rathbun’s (1923) specimen was neither referable to P. novaezelandiae (fide Scott 1961), nor P. hickmani (as P. p i s u m) (see Griffin & Yaldwyn 1971). According to Griffin & Yaldwyn (1971), Rathbun’s (1923) specimen could not be identified with P. hickmani (as P. pisum ) because of the presence of a lateral extension of the orbits as indicated by the shallow groove adjacent to the eyes, a feature absent from P. hickmani . Griffin & Yaldwyn (1971) also noted the presence of a fringe of dactylar setae on the ambulatory limbs in Rathbun’s (1923) specimen but not P. hickmani (as P. p i s u m). Rathbun’s (1923) specimen (AM E5676), some of Griffin & Yaldwyn’s study material and other specimens in the Australian Museum were re­examined for this study. Rathbun’s (1923) record of P. novaezelandiae is based on P. hickmani . The groove lateral to the eyes in Rathbun’s (1923) specimen is an artefact of damage from overall dorsal compression to the specimen. The setation of the dactyli of the ambulatory limbs is similar in all specimens, but could appear absent if specimens were examined ‘dry’ instead of submerged in fluid. Therefore, we conclude that Pinnotheres novaezelandiae is currently not known from Australia.

As remarked under the account of Orthotheres haliotidis , Thomson’s (1893) report of Pinnixia faba from Tasmania, followed by Guiler (1952), is probably based on Pinnotheres hickmani , the common Tasmanian species.

Distribution. Shark Bay, Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania ( Jones 1990), and now from New South Wales and southern Queensland.