Upogebia carinicauda (Stimpson, 1860)

(Fig. 10)

Gebia carinicauda Stimpson, 1860: 23.

Upogebia carinicauda. — Sakai & Takeda 1995: 204, figs. 1–3; Sakai 2006: 98; Sepahvand & Sari 2010: 44, fig. 2; Sepahvand et al. 2013: 5; Naderloo & Türkay 2012: 18; Sepahvand et al. 2014: 138, fig. 2B.

Material examined. Kuwait: 1 female, OUMNH. ZC. 2020.01.034, Failaka Island, 29°23.409’N 48°23.927’E, shallow subtidal pool (0.3 m at low tide), muddy bottom close to rocky platform, in burrow, leg. A. Anker, 03.x.2019 [fcn KUW-061].

General distribution. Indo-West Pacific from the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and Madagascar to Japan, Samoa and Australia (Sakai 2006; Sepahvand et al. 2013; present study).

Ecology. Largely intertidal and shallow subtidal; mixed rocky-sandy shores with mud and shell fragments; typically, in complex ramified burrows in clay, mud/sand or limestone rocks (Sepahvand et al. 2013, 2014; present study).

Remarks. The single specimen from Kuwait corresponds well to U. carinicauda, as defined by Sakai (2006). The main diagnostic features of the species are the dorsal surface of the telson bearing an elevated, sharp, transverse carina that connects to two blunt, lateral, longitudinal carinae (Fig. 10B); the presence of four teeth on the distal margin of the rostrum (one of them obsolete in the Kuwaiti specimen) and a single infra-rostral tooth; the presence of a conspicuous sharp tooth on the ventromesial surface of the cheliped propodus; and the dactylus being almost twice as long as the propodus. However, we believe that some synonymies proposed by Sakai (2006), for instance that of U. rupicola Komai, 2005, may need a re-assessment (see also Ngoc-Ho 2008; Komai et al. 2020).