Statommatia pubescens Chen 1998, n. comb.
Creators: name: Ng, Peter K. L.
name: Castro, Peter
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Chasmocarcinidae
Statommatia
Statommatia pubescens

description: Statommatia pubescens (Chen, 1998), n. comb.
(Figs. 16 G; 33D; 78A, B)
Hephthopelta pubescens Chen, 1998: 300, 315, fig. 23 [type localilty: South China Sea, Nansha Is.].— Jiang 2008: 770 [in list].— Ng et al. 2008: 76 [in list].
Type material (not examined). Holotype male (5.0 × 7.9 mm) (depository unknown), South China Sea, Nansha Is., 04°30’N, 113°30'E, 80m.
Diagnosis. Carapace (Fig. 16 G; Chen 1998: fig. 23-1) subtrapezoidal, convex dorsally, wider than long; granular, tomentose surface; front bilobed, with shallow median cleft; anterolateral margins arcuate, without distinct lobes or teeth. Eye peduncle (Fig. 16 G; Chen 1998: fig. 23-1) filling orbit, short, immobile, cornea reduced. Third maxilliped (Fig. 33 D; Chen 1998: fig. 23-5) incompletely covering buccal cavity; merus subquadrate, ischium subquadrate, about same length as merus. Proportionally short ambulatory legs (Fig. 16 G; Chen 1998: fig. 23-4), pubescent. Chelipeds (Fig. 16 G; Chen 1998: fig. 23-2, 3) subequal in length, heteromorphic in males; fingers of minor chela scissor-like, cutting margins with small teeth; major chela with most proximal teeth enlarged. Inner margin of cheliped carpus with tooth. Male pleon (Fig. 16 G; Chen 1998: fig. 23-6) with proportionally long telson. G1 (Fig. 78 A, B; Chen 1998: fig. 23-7) slender, distal segment slightly curving outwards, with short spinules. G2 short. Female unknown.
Remarks. The figure of the carapace given by Chen (1998: fig. 23-1) shows an individual with relatively long eye peduncles that seem to suggest her species may be closer to Chinommatia. This may not be very accurate, however, as the base is not drawn, and she describes three features that indicate her Hephthopelta pubescens is probably a species of Statommatia: the eyestalks do not move, the merus and ischium of the third maxilliped are quadrate and short, and the G2 is short (“tiny”) (Chen 1998: 300, 315). Like some species of Chinommatia, H. pubescens was obtained from relatively shallow water. The G1 of the species illustrated by Chen (1998: fig. 23-7) is also similar in form to that of Chinommatia species, with the distal half long and slender. We are therefore confident it is in fact a species of Chinommatia and that the original drawing of the eye of H. pubescens is not accurate.
The G1 of C. pubescens (Fig. 78 A, B) is similar to that of C. knudseni (Fig. 77 E‒G). Both species are nevertheless distinct. Compared to C. knudseni, C. pubescens has a relatively less broad carapace (Fig. 16 G) (cf. Fig. 16 D); the dorsal carapace surface is more distinctly granular (Fig. 16 G) (cf. Fig. 16 D); the male pleonite 6 is more elongated with a proportionately longer telson (Fig. 16 G) (cf. Fig. 54 E); and the distal part of the G1 is gently curved rather than straight (Fig. 78 A, B) (cf. Fig. 77 E, F).
We have not been able to locate the type specimen. It does not appear to be among the type material in IOCAS where the author, H.-L. Chen, worked (W. Jiang, pers. comm.). The material of Chinommatia cavimanus (identified as Hephthopelta littoralis) she examined are in IOCAS (see discussion for the species). The type specimen of Statommatia pubescens may have been transferred somewhere else or just misplaced.
Distribution. Known only from the South China Sea. Depth: 80 m.
description: Published as part of Ng, Peter K. L. & Castro, Peter, 2016, Revision of the family Chasmocarcinidae Serène, 1964 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Goneplacoidea), pp. 1-182 in Zootaxa 4209 (1) on pages 77-78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4209.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/272646