Liagore pulchella Ng & Naruse, 2007, new species
Creators: name: Ng, Peter K. L.
name: Naruse, Tohru
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Xanthidae
Liagore
Liagore pulchella

description: Liagore pulchella, new species
(Figs. 1, 3 a, 4)
Material examined. Holotype: male (45.4 × 32.9 mm) (MNHN), stn. EP4, off Santo Island, Vanuatu, 15°19'46.3''S 167°7'0.4''E, 89–109 m, in tangle net, coll. SANTO Expedition, 12 September 2006. Paratypes: 2 males (51.5 × 37.5 mm, 41.9 × 31.0 mm), 2 females (44.2 × 31.8 mm, 27.7 × 37.8 mm) (MNHN), same data as holotype; 2 males (44.9 × 33.3 mm, 46.7 × 34.0 mm), 2 females (38.0 × 27.9 mm, 38.2 × 27.8 mm) (ZRC 2007.0642), stn EP15, off Santo Island, Vanuatu, 15°21'58.8''S 167°1'7.1''E, 103–105 m, in tangle net, coll. SANTO Expedition, 17 September 2006; 2 males (44.3 × 32.9 mm, 44.9 × 32.9 mm) (MNHN), 2 males (45.4 × 32.9 mm, 47.8 × 35.4 mm) (ZRC 2007.0643), 2 males (40.9 × 29.9 mm, 42.9 × 31.3 mm), 1 female (43.3 × 31.2 mm) (NSMT), stn EP18, off Santo Island, Vanuatu, 15°19'50.7''S 167°7'6.6''E, 81–102 m, in tangle net, coll. SANTO Expedition, 18 September 2006.
Comparative material. Liagore rubromaculata: 3 males (33.6 × 24.9 mm – 36.4 × 27.0 mm) (ZRC 1998.215), Tashi Fishing Port, Ilan County, northeastern Taiwan, coll. P. K. L. Ng, 3–4 August 1996; 1 male (36.8 × 26.8 mm), 1 female (30.5 × 22.3 mm) (ZRC 1995.626), northern Taiwan, coll. C. H. Wang, 1990s; 1 male (41.1 × 30.1 mm) (ZRC 1970.3.9.3), Keelung, northern Taiwan, coll. Institute of Fisheries Research, 1963; 3 males (15.3 × 10.9 mm – 29.5 × 21.5 mm), 3 ovigerous females (26.1 × 19.2 mm – 32.7 × 23.6 mm) (ZRC 1997.744), South China Sea, Tungkang Port, Kaohsiung, southwestern Taiwan, coll. P. K. L. Ng, 5 August 1996; 1 male (23.8 × 17.3 mm) (ZRC 1998.6405), South China Sea, near Singapore, coll. Hee Huat, 16 September 1983; 1 male (16.7 × 12.3 mm), 1 female (15.4 × 11.3 mm) (ZRC 1995.956), Gulf of Carpentaria, northwestern Queensland, Australia, coll. CSIRO “Southern Surveyor”, 21 February 1992; 2 males (18.9 × 14.0 mm, 14.8 × 11.2 mm), 2 females (20.6 × 15.3 mm, 15.7 × 11.8 mm) (ZRC 2002.0512), Nansha, South China Sea, 45 m, coll. 4 April 1960. Liagore erythematica: 1 juvenile male (ZRC 1970.1.10.28), Djalandhi, Java, Indonesia, coll. R. Serène, 1963; 3 males (35.5 × 25.2 mm – 37.6 × 26.6 mm), 1 female (34.7 × 24.5 mm) (ZRC 2002.346), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. J. C. Y. Lai et al., 2–3 September 2001; 1 female (35.5 × 25.1 mm) (ZRC 2001.1064), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. P. K. L. Ng, 17 February 2001; 2 males (31.2 × 22.3 mm, 35.2 × 24.5 mm), 1 female (34.4 × 24.5 mm) (ZRC 1998.1132), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. S. Chaitiamvong, December 1998; 7 males (22.3 × 16.0 mm – 33.2 × 23.3mm), 1 female (32.2 × 22.7 mm) (ZRC 2000.784), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. N. K. Ng et al., 17–20 January 2000; 4 males (26.7 × 19.2 mm – 36.1 × 26.1 mm) (ZRC 2000.374), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. P. K. L. Ng, 24 August 1999; 11 males (14.3 × 10.4 mm – 41.0 × 28.5 mm), 11 females (18.5 × 13.3 mm – 34.4 × 24.4 mm) (ZRC 2000.834), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. P. K. L. Ng, 3–6 May 2000; 1 male (ZRC 1999.155), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port,
Phuket, western Thailand, coll. P. K. L. Ng, April 1999; 1 male (28.9 × 40.6 mm) (ZRC 1998.1236), Ranong, Tubli, western Thailand, coll. 2 July 1991; 1 male (24.0 × 33.8 mm) (ZRC 1992.10520), Andaman Sea, between Penang and Langkawi islands, northern Peninsular Malaysia, coll. C. P. How & C. O. Lau, 12 November 1991; 3 males (24.4 × 34.0 mm – 26.3 × 37.0 mm), 3 females (22.2 × 31.9 mm – 25.9 × 37.4 mm) (ZRC 2001.0873), fish landing opposite Vellar Estuary, Tamil Nadu, south India, coll. A. S. Fernando, 24 March 2001; 2 males (17.7 × 25.3 mm, 22.4 × 31.8 mm), 4 females (20.5 × 29.1 mm – 27.8 × 40.0 mm) (ZRC 2002.0081), Andaman Sea, Pichai Fish Port, Phuket, western Thailand, coll. J. C. Y. Lai, 22–25 August 2002.
Diagnosis. Carapace (Fig. 1) oval, CW 1.35–1.39 (mean 1.37, n = 16) times CL, dorsal surface convex longitudinally, transversely, smooth, regions ill-defined. Frontal margin with short median wide, rounded sublateral notch, lateral angle (Fig. 3 a) swollen ventrally; infraorbital margin with inner half swollen, outer half strongly excavated downwards; orbit relatively large, fronto-orbital width 0.50–0.54 (mean 0.52, n = 16) times CW. Anterolateral margin entire, junctions between anterolateral and posterolateral margins rounded, subparallel; posterolateral margins strongly convergent posteriorly. Epistome (Fig. 3 a) with posterior margin widely concave, with median short projection; short longitudinal sutures on middle and lateral half, posterior end of suture not clearly opened. Merus of third maxilliped with distal inner half excavated, with submedian projection. Chelae (Fig. 1) equal, larger in males; carpus wide, produced outwards as well as inwards, outer angle protruded. Ambulatory legs (Fig. 1) slender; first, second longest; distal end of merus almost reaching to outer projection of carpus of cheliped when leg is stretched along merus of laterally stretched cheliped; length from dactyli to carpi of first, second legs as long as CL. Abdomen with third to fifth segments fused. G1 (Fig. 4 a–c) slender, gently curving outwards, distal part with short line of short setae on dorsal outer margin, setae directed posteriorly; G2 (Fig. 4 d) short.
Coloration. Unlike the two known congeners, Liagore pulchella, new species, lacks any red dots on the peach-coloured dorsal surfaces of the carapace and pereiopods (Fig. 1). Inner surface of the palm, the distal part of the cheliped fingers and ventral surfaces are white.
Etymology. The name is derived from the Latin pulchella for beautiful or lovely. The name is used as adjective.
Remarks. Liagore pulchella, new species, can be clearly distinguished from two congeners by the absence of spots on the dorsal surfaces of the carapace and pereiopods (Figs 1, 2; Guinot 1971: Figs. 3, 4). Other than the marked colour differences, L. pulchella can be differentiated from L. rubromaculata by the presence of a low and rounded lobe on the anterior portion of the junction with the posterolateral margin (Fig. 1) (absent in L. rubromaculata, Fig. 2 a), more concave outer half of the infraorbital margin (Fig. 3 a) (less concave in L. rubromaculata, Fig. 3 b), a longer projection on the outer angle of the cheliped carpus (Fig. 1) (weaker in L. rubromaculata, Fig. 2 a), the relatively longer ambulatory legs, with the distal end of the merus of the first ambulatory leg almost reaching to the outer projection of the cheliped carpus when stretched along the merus of a laterally stretched cheliped (Fig. 1) (some distance from the outer projection in L. rubromaculata, Fig. 2 a), the closed submedian sutures of the posterior margin of the epistome (Fig. 3 a) (suture with posterior end opened in L. rubromaculata, Fig. 3 b) and the shape of the G1, being gradually but continuously curving outwards and the dorsal surface of the distal tip with a line of short setae that are directed outwards (Fig. 4 a–c) (curvature of the G1 not constant, lined setae long, directed anteriorly in L. rubromaculata) (see also Guinot 1971: Figs. 2, 4; Ng & Chen 2004: Figs. 4 a, b, 5a–d). These morphological characters, especially the conditions of the infraorbital margins and the epistomes, show minor variations, but they can still be distinguished by remaining morphological characters.
Liagore erythematica is morphologically closer to L. pulchella in their relatively longer ambulatory legs, wider cheliped carpus with the long outer projection, closed posterior margins of their epistomes and the strongly concave outer half of their respective infraorbital margins (Figs. 1, 2 b, 3a, c; Guinot 1971: Fig. 2). In addition to the pronounced colour differences, the characters separating these two species are the relative width of the basal antennal article (wider in L. pulchella, Fig. 3 a than in L. erythematica, Fig. 3 c) and the shape of the G1 (gradually but continuously curving outwards for L. pulchella, Fig. 4 a-c, proximal third of G1 sharply bent in L. erythematica) (see also Ng & Chen 2004: Fig. 5e, f). The fronto-orbital width of L. pulchella (Fig. 1) is also slightly wider than in L. rubromaculata and L. erythematica (Fig. 2).
description: Published as part of Ng, Peter K. L. & Naruse, Tohru, 2007, Liagore pulchella, a new species of xanthid crab (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) from Vanuatu, pp. 53-60 in Zootaxa 1665 on pages 54-59, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.180048