Paragiopagurus ruticheles

Eupagurus ruticheles A. Milne Edwards, 1891: 133 (type locality: near Graciosa, Azores, L'Hirondelle, sta. 234, 39°01'40"N, 30015'40''W, 454 m).

Parapagurus ruticheles.-De Saint Laurent, 1972: 112.

Sympagurus ruticheles.- Lemaitre, 1989: 37.- Lemaitre, 1990: 235, figs 11, 12.- Lemaitre, 1994: 412.

Type material. SYNTYPES: 2 males (SL 3.6 -5.9 mm), 1 female ovig. (SL 3.2 mm), near Graciosa, Azores [Atlantic Ocean], LHirondelle, sta. 234, 39°01'40"N, 30015'40''W, 454 m, 19 Aug 1888, MO.

Australian material. 1 male (SL 3.8 mm), Britannia Sea Mount, Western Tasman Sea, ORV Franklin, sta. 0589-47, 28°17.47'S, 158°37.89'E, 419 m, 10 May 1989, coIls. lK. Lowry et al., AM P44473

Diagnosis. Phyllobranchiate gills. Shield about as broad as long, dorsal surface usually weakly calcified medially; rostrum broadly rounded, with short dorsal ridge; lateral projections subtriangular, with small terminal spine; ventrolateral margin with small spine (often lacking on one side). Ocular peduncles more than half length of shield; acicles terminating in strong spine; corneae dilated. Antennular peduncles exceeding distal margin of corneae by slightly less than length of ultimate segment. Antennal peduncles not exceeding distal margin of corneae; acicles not exceeding distal margin of corneae, mesial margin armed with 7 to 14 spines. Sternite of 3rd maxilliped with spine on each side of midline. Epistomial spine straight, occasionally bifid. Right cheliped elongate, with transverse furrows on ventral surfaces of chela and ventrolateral face of carpus; palm with well delimited dorsomesial, ventromesial and dorsolateral margins each armed with spines (usually having corneous tips), and concave mesial face often expanded distally; carpus with well delimited dorsolateral margin armed with corneous-tipped spines. Left cheliped weakly calcified on merus and carpus; unarmed except for scattered small spines on dorsal surface of palm and dorsal margin of carpus. Ambulatory legs with dactyls each having dorsal and distal dorsomesial row of setae, and ventromesial row of about 13 spinules; merus of right 3rd pereopod usually with dorsal row of small spines. Anterior lobe of sternite of 3rd pereopods unarmed. Fourth pereopod with strongly curved dactyl; propodal rasp consisting of 1 row of ovate scales. Uropods and telson strongly asymmetrical; telson with transverse suture separating anterior and posterior lobes; posterior lobes separated by shallow median cleft, terminal margins armed with strong often curved corneous spines. Males lacking 1st pleopods; with unpaired, uniramous 2nd left pleopod. Females with unpaired left 2nd pleopod (lacking right vestigial 2nd pleopod).

Distribution. Central and western Pacific: Hawaiian Islands; and Australia. Eastern Atlantic: Portugal to Senegal. Depth: 200 to 1440 m.

With our still limited knowledge of the parapagurid fauna from many areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is difficult to generalise as to the distributional patterns of species or groups of species. In Australia, parapagurids from the western, northern and southeastern shelf, and continental slope areas, now seem reasonably well sampled. However, those from the southern region, in particular the Great Australian Bight, still remain to be studied.

Of the 18 species treated in this study, eight are broadly distributed in the Indo Pacific region, and are found from the western Indian Ocean to at least as far east as Australia, Sympagurus brevipes, S. papposus n.sp., S. trispinosus, Oncopagurus indicus, 0. monstrosus, 0. minutus, Paragiopagurus hirsutus, and P boletifer. Three of these eight are known to occur further to the east, Paragiopagurus hirsutus, in New Zealand, and P boletifer and S. trispinosus, in French Polynesia. Of the species that occur in Australia, five are distributed exclusively in the western Pacific, Strobopagurus sibogae, Sympagurus planimanus, P acutus, P bicarinatus, and P diogenes; five occur also in Japan, Strobopagurus sibogae, 0. monstrosus, P acutus, P diogenes, and P boletifer; and one in Hawaii, P boletifer. One species, Sympagurus dimorphus, is distributed only in the coldtemperate regions of the southern hemisphere (south of 22°S, but in the Atlantic possibly as far north as 90 S). Of the new species discovered during this study, three have so far been found only in Australia, S. soela n.sp. and 0. cidaris n.sp., from Queensland and New South Wales; and S. villosus n.sp., from Queensland. One species, P ruticheles, has a broad, disjunct distribution, known from elsewhere in the Pacific only from Hawaii, but also occurs in the eastern Atlantic. Only two species, S. dimorphus and P hirsutus, are so far known from New Zealand.