Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca Latreille, 1802
Order: Decapoda Latreille, 1802
Family: Munidopsidae Ortmann, 1898
Munidopsis bengala Tiwari, Padate, Cubelio & Osawa, 2022
Collection: Southwestern Bay of Bengal, off Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu – 11.03°N, 80.26°E, 524 m, 05.12.2015 (FORVSS 346 leg I, St. 03), Naturalists dredge
Voucher No.: CMLRE IO/SS/ANO/00145
Description: Small galatheoid crab with carapace (excluding rostrum) dorsally uneven, covered with small, unevenly scattered granules; epigastric bulges blunt, posterior cardiac region narrowly triangular; lateral margins gently diverging posteriorly in anterior three-fourths length, unarmed, each with rounded anterolateral angle. Rostrum narrowly subtriangular, gently deflexed ventrally, with mid-dorsal granular ridge extending nearly to epigastric region, lateral margins gently tapering; basal width 0.3 times distance between anterolateral angles of carapace. Thoracic sternite 4 broad, 2.8 times wider than, and not contiguous to, sternite 3; anterolateral margins gently concave. Pleonal tergites unarmed, tergites 2–4 each with elevated transverse ridge anteriorly, tergites 2 and 3 each with posterior transverse ridge. Antennular article 1 with 2 strong distal spines, ventrodistal spine larger than dorsodistal spine. Antennal peduncle overreaching distal corneal margin by combined length of 2 distal articles, all articles unarmed. Mxp3 with 3 ventral spines, distalmost smallest; dorsal margin distally with small blunt projection. Epipods absent from P1–4.
Biological association: None.
Remarks: New species of the genus Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1874 from Indian EEZ.
Distribution: Southwestern Bay of Bengal, India (type locality). Depth range: 524 m.
Distribution map:
Identified by: Shivam Tiwari
Publication: Tiwari S., Padate V.P., Cubelio S.S., Osawa M. (2022) Squat lobsters of the genera Raymunida Macpherson & Machordom, 2000 and Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1874 (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheoidea) from the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone, with descriptions of three new species. Journal of Natural History, 56 (41–44): 1819–1839. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2138600
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