Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 56

A review of Macrophthalmus sensu lato (Crustacea: Decapoda: Macrophthalmidae) from Australia, including two new species and new records

Citation

Davie, P.J.F. 2012. A review of Macrophthalmus sensu lato (Crustacea: Decapoda: Macrophthalmidae) from Australia, including two new species and new records. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Nature 56(1): 149-219. Brisbane. ISSN 0079-8835. https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.56.1.2012-11

Published online

17 February 2012

Peer reviewed

Yes

DOI

https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.56.1.2012-11

Keywords

Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Ocypodidae, Macrophthalmus, Australia, Northem Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, new species, intertidal

Abstract 

Nineteen species of Macrophthalmus sensu lato from Australia and its Territories are reviewed, diagnosed and illustrated. One new species M. gagudju is described from the Northern Territory. It differs from its nearest allies by carapace shape, armature and granulation, thick setae on the inner face of the palm of the male cheliped, and the lack of a tooth on the fixed finger of the male claw. Five species are newly recorded for the Australian fauna, Macrophthalmus (Paramareotis) erato De Man, 1888, from the vicinity of Darwin, and in Kakadu National Park; M. (Macrophthalmus) dentatus Stimpson, 1858, from Moreton Bay; M. (M.) ceratophorus Sakai, 1969, from the Great Barrier Reef; M. (M.) serenei Takeda & Komai, 1991, from the Great Barrier Reef and Cocos- Keeling Is.; and M. (M.) graeffei A. Milne-Edwards, 1873, from coastal waters off eastern Cape York. The record of M. (M.) graeffei is the first from the Western Pacific since the original type description; a neotype is designated. It is demonstrated that specimens recorded from the Indian Ocean under this name are not conspecific with M. (M.) graeffei, and a new species name, M. (M.) indicus is provided. The geographic range of Macrophthalmus (Mareotis) abercrombiei has been extended westwards from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Kakadu National Park, on the western edge of Arnhem Land; M. (Mareotis) darwinensis is now known from northeastern Australia and New Caledonia. Chaenostoma and Tasmanoplax, previously considered subgenera of Macrophthalmus, are formally treated as full genera. Tasmanoplax latifrons is recorded from the Hunter River, central New South Wales, considerably extending northwards its known distribution. The typically subtropical species Chaenostoma punctulatus is newly recorded from Port Augusta, South Australia, and it is speculated that this has been a recent introduction. Keys to the genera and species of Australian Macrophthalminae are presented.