Scopimera intermedia Balss 1934
Creators: name: Wong, Kingsley J. H.
name: Chan, Benny K. K.
name: Shih, Hsi-Te
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Dotillidae
Scopimera
Scopimera intermedia

description: Scopimera intermedia Balss, 1934
(Figs. 1 c, d, 2 c, d, 3 d –f, 4c, d)
Scopimera intermedia Balss 1934: 233. – Tweedie 1950: 360. – Serène & Moosa 1981: 4, fig. 1. – Morton & Morton 1983: 153, figs. 9.4(4, 5). – Ng et al. 2008: 235.
Scopimera globosa — Huang et al. 1992: 153, fig. 16, pl. 2D. – Fukui et al. 1989: 227.– Shih et al. 1991: 126.– Lee 2001: 98. – Ng et al. 2001: 39. – Shao et al. 2008: 642.
Scopimera tuberculata — Shen 1935: 36, fig. 15; 1940: 233. – Tweedie 1937: 146. – Dai & Yang 1991: 497, fig. 254, pl. 63(7). – Wang & Liu 1996: 225. – Kosuge et al. 1997: 182. – Wang 2003: 104. (not Scopimera tuberculata Stimpson, 1858 s. str.)
Material examined. - Taiwan: 3 males, 1 female (CEL), Siangshan, Hsinchu, 14 Nov. 2008, coll. P.-C. Tsai et al.; 7 males (CEL), Cigu, Tainan, 12 Jul. 2007, coll. B. K. K. Chan; 1 male, 1 female (NMNS 003566-00029), Wujiang estuary, Kinmen, 21 Feb. 2001, coll. K.-S. Lee et al.; 1 male (NMNS 001667-00001), Tiesian, Magong, Penghu, 2 Sep. 1990, coll. J.-F. Huang; 9 males, 1 female (CEL), Cingluo, Penghu, 17 Oct. 2008, coll. H.-T. Shih. Hong Kong: 27 males (CEL), Starfish Bay, Sep. 2008, coll. K. J. H. Wong; 4 males, 1 female (CEL), Bui O, Sep. 2008, coll. K. J. H. Wong; 3 males, 4 females (CEL), Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po, 26 Oct. 2008, coll. B. K. K. Chan. Singapore: 1 male, 3 females (ZRC 1969.12.20.1-10), Johore Strait, 19 Feb. 1969, coll. R. Serène; 1 male, 2 females (ZRC 2008.0728), Lim Chu Kang, 24 Nov. 2006, coll. K. L. Yeo.
Diagnosis. External maxillipeds merus slightly shorter than ischium; external orbital angle blunt, crest behind which diverge posteriorly (Fig. 1 c); cheliped length more than twice of carapace length, carpus very elongated; tooth on inner margin of movable finger inconspicuous or absent (Fig. 2 c); sixth somite of male abdomen broader than long (Fig. 2 d); G1 slender, tip tapering, with typical kink and long setae extended from distal end (Fig. 3 d, e, f).
Description. Carapace convex, globular, slightly broader than long, covered by tubercles, densest around branchial regions and along lateral margins, nearly smooth on cardiac and intestine regions; posterior margin slightly longer than width between both external orbital angles (Fig. 1 c); suborbital ridge granulated, composed of at least 25 coarsely bead-like granules, most larger than granules randomly distributed on pterygostomian regions (Fig. 1 d); external orbital angle obtuse, leaving single notch along lateral border, followed by longitudinal crest extending most of carapace length (Fig. 1 c). External maxillipeds convex, merus slightly smaller than ischium, suture between them oblique, dactylus palp not reaching suture between merus and ischium. Ventral surface glabrous, smooth, except short dense tufts of light-colored soft setae between bases of first and second ambulatory legs.
Entire cheliped covered by fine granules, total length more than twice of carapace length in adult males; merus with single longitudinal ovate tympana on inner surface, carpus ovate, elongated, as long as merus and longer than palm in adult males, palm longer than fingers, fingers tapered to sharp tips, inner margins of both weakly serrated, tooth on inner margin of movable finger very faint if present (Fig. 2 c). Ambulatory legs relatively elongated, slender, third leg longest, first and second legs subequal, fourth leg shortest; merus laterally compressed, tympana entire, occupying most of segment, dactylus tapered to a sharp tip, subequal in length with propodus; anterior border of merus, carpus, both borders of propodus lined sparsely with long stiff dark-colored setae.
Male abdomen elongated, telson broader than long, distal end rounded; sixth somite rectangular, broader than long, distal margin slightly broader; lateral margins of fifth somite conspicuously concave on proximal half, proximal margin narrower; fourth somite broad, distal margin less as convex (Fig. 2 d). G1 slender, curved dorsally, tapered to a fine tip with distinctive ventral-outward kink near distal end; several long stiff setae extended from very tip (Fig. 3 d–f).
Distribution. From Malay Peninsula (type locality: Johore), Singapore, Borneo, Indonesia (Tweedie 1950), Vietnam (Kosuge et al. 1997), to Hong Kong, South China (Shen 1935, 1940; present study) and the southern and western coast of Taiwan, including Penghu (present study). May be present in North China but the northern limit remains unclear (see “Remarks” under S. tuberculata above).
Remarks. Scopimera intermedia has been recorded under S. tuberculata (sensu Shen 1935, 1940) from Vietnam (Kosuge et al. 1997; see “Remarks” under Scopimera tuberculata), Hong Kong, South China (Shen 1935, 1940; Dai & Yang 1991), and Kinmen (Wang & Liu 1996; Ng et al. 2001), and S. globosa from Taiwan (e.g. Huang et al. 1992, see “Remarks” under S. globosa). Scopimera intermedia is therefore a new record for Taiwan, China, and Vietnam.
description: Published as part of Wong, Kingsley J. H., Chan, Benny K. K. & Shih, Hsi-Te, 2010, Taxonomy of the sand bubbler crabs Scopimera globosa De Haan, 1835, and S. tuberculata Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Dotillidae) in East Asia, with description of a new species from the Ryukyus, Japan, pp. 43-59 in Zootaxa 2345 on pages 48-50, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.205328