Pseudophilyra punctulata H.-L. & Ng 2003, new species
Creators: name: H. - L., Chen
name: Ng, Peter K. L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2003
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Leucosiidae
Pseudophilyra
Pseudophilyra punctulata

description: Pseudophilyra punctulata, new species   
(Figs. 1B, 3)  
 Material examined. – Holotype - male (5.8 by 5.0 mm) (ZRC 1993.92), Siloso Beach, Sentosa, Singapore, coll. P. K. L. Ng & S. L. Tay, 21 Dec.1987.   
Paratype – 1 immature female (6.0 by 5.4 mm) (ZRC 1995.550), Changi Point, Singapore, coll. E. Low, 1 Aug.1992.  
 Diagnosis. – Dorsal surface of carapace pitted, ca. 1.11-1.16 times as long as broad, behind strongly convex front. Front divided into 3 teeth: median one prominently larger than lateral ones, tip bluntly rounded; lateral teeth low, subtriangular. Hepatic region protruding, with fine granules. Lateral margins of carapace with bead-like granules. Posterior carapace margin slightly convex, with minute beadlike granules. Surface of third maxilliped pitted, margins convex, serrulate; exopod 3 times as long as broad (measured along inner border); merus sharply triangular, twice as long as broad, inner distal margin granulated; ischium relatively short. Chelipeds symmetrical; merus cylindrical, 3 times as long as broad, dorsal surface of basal half with 2 longitudinal rows of pearl-like granules, borders with granules, granules of basal two-thirds coarser than those of distal one-third; dorsal surface of carpus with fine granules; palm slender, twice as long as broad, covered with fine granules; movable finger shorter than palm, cutting edges of both fingers with indistinct teeth, basal half unarmed, forming relatively large gape when closed. Ambulatory legs slender, smooth; first pair longest, last pair shortest. Surface of male abdomen pitted, with 5 free segments; segments 3-5 fused, base of both sides bluntly rounded, gradually convergent to distal part, median surface unarmed; segment 1 transversely narrow; segment 2 3 times as long as first segment; segment 6 longer than broad; telson triangular.   
 Etymology. – The name is derived from the Latin “punctum” for small hole, alluding to the numerous small pits on the carapace.   
  Remarks. - Pseudophilyra punctulata , new species, closely resembles P. intermedia Ihle, 1918, but differs in that the anterior surface of the carapace does not have a discernible median beaded ridge (vs. present), the median frontal tooth is relatively more acute, the lateral and posterior margins of the carapace have coarser granules, the exopod of the third maxilliped is proportionately broader with the outer border serrated and the inner distal margin of the merus is granulated (vs. inner distal margin of the merus unarmed), the surface of fused male abdominal segments 3-5 does not have a median tooth (vs. distinctly present), and the distal half of the cutting edges of both fingers have only weakly developed teeth, with the basal half leaving a larger gape when the fingers are closed (vs. more developed teeth with only weak gape) (fide Ihle, 1918: 269, Fig. 140; Komatsu & Takeda, 2000: 275, Figs. 4 f-l, 5A).   
 Pseudophilyra intermedia was described the Banda Sea (Indonesia) (Ihle, 1918) and has also been reported from Japan (Komatsu & Takeda, 2000). Komatsu & Takeda (2000: 278) also discussed the close affinities of P. intermedia with the allied P. tridentata Miers, 1879. The differences noted here between P. punctulata and P. intermedia are also applicable for P. tridentata, except that the frontal median tooth of the latter species is even more pronounced.
description: Published as part of H. - L., Chen & Ng, Peter K. L., 2003, On New Species Of Leucosiidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) From Singapore And The South China Sea, pp. 61-69 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 51 (1) on page 64, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4619317