Raymunida elegantissima (de Man, 1902 )

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 : 69

Raymunida elegantissima (de Man, 1902)

Munida elegantissima de Man, 1902: 726 , pl. 24, figs. 42, 42a, b [type locality: Malay Archipelago] — Haig, 1973: 270–271.

Raymunida elegantissima . — Macpherson & Machordom, 2001: 703, fig. 1 E–H. — Davie, 2002: 67.

Material examined. WESTERN AUSTRALIA: WAM C323 , 1 female (14.1 mm), between Fremantle and Geraldton, 146–220 m, trawled, FIS Endeavour, W. B. Alexander, 1912 .

Remarks. Raymunida elegantissima was first reported from Australia by Haig (1973) on the basis of the present specimen (as Munida elegantissima ). Although badly fragmented, enough of the specimen remains to verify its identity as R. elegantissima as redescribed by Macpherson & Machordom (2001). In view of the reported range of R. elegantissima reported by Macpherson & Machordom (2001) (i.e., western Pacific), the Western Australian locality of the present specimen might give pause to its identity. The presence of numerous tropical species off western and southwestern Australia, however, is not unusual owing to the effects of the Leeuwin current. Haig (1973) noted examining additional specimens of M. elegantissima from various northern Australian localities. These northern Australian records require verification in the light of the revisionary studies by Macpherson & Machordom (2000, 2001).

Distribution. Malaysia, Philippines, Western Australia, and New Caledonia to Fiji; 50–160 m ( Macpherson & Machordom 2001).