Spider crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Majidae) from the International Indian Ocean Expedition, 1963-1964

Abstract

Spider crabs were collected by the RV Anton Bruun from 52 stations in the Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and western Indian Ocean from Natal to the Gulf of Aden. Specimens from seven stations worked by the Te Vega in the Andaman Sea, Indonesia, and western Pacific, and shore collections made at Madagascar and the islands to the north and at Cocos (Keeling) Island in the eastern Indian Ocean are also dealt with.A total of 56 species belonging to 30 genera are reported on. Fifty-two of the species were collected by the Anton Bruun and the 32 species collected at 28 stations in the western Indian Ocean represent just over one-third of the total number of majid spider crabs from that area. The collections were taken mainly on the upper part of the continental shelf, but six species were collected at depths exceeding 200 meters. Basic references, descriptive notes, and a summary of the geographic distribution are given for each species.Achaeus curvirostris (A. Milne Edwards), new combination, and Hyastenus ovatus (Dana) are shown to be senior synonyms of A. fissifrons (Haswell) and Hyastenus tenuicornis Pocock, respectively, and Naxia mamillata Ortmann, a junior synonym of Naxioides robillardi Miers. In addition, Doclea tetraptera Walker is confirmed as a junior synonym of D. calcitrapa White, Eurynome longimana Stimpson of E. aspera (Pennant) and Pseudocollodes complectens Rathbun of Inachus dorsettensis (Pennant). Barnard's "Macropodia formosa var" is identified as M. intermedia Bouvier. These last three species, previously known from the east Atlantic and South Africa, are recorded from east Africa for the first time. Chlorinoides tosaensis Sakai and Majella brevipes Ortmann, previously known from Japan, and Oncinopus neptunus Adams & White (=O. aranea auct. in part) and Simocarcinus obtusirostris Miers from the western Pacific are recorded from the Indian Ocean for the first time. The majority of the species collected are widely distributed Indo-West Pacific ones.