Paralomis mendagnai Macpherson 2003

Paralomis mendagnai Macpherson, 2003 (Fig. 6) Paralomis mendagnai Macpherson, 2003: 414, figs 1-3. TYPE LOCALITY. — Solomon Islands, 9°06.9’S, 159°53.2’E, 869-912 m DISTRIBUTION. — Solomon Islands, 400-1200 m. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 6 ♀♀ (CL 7-49.9 mm), 6 šš (CL 11-59 mm). SPECIMENS FIGURED. — Solomon Islands, 896-1012 m, 25-26.IX.2001, 3 šš CL 11, 36, 58.8 mm (MNHN Pg-6408). REMARKS From an ovigerous female found 700-800 m in the Solomon Islands, this species is known to be reproductively mature by at least CL 50 mm. Paralomis mendagnai appears to be different from other South Pacific groups studied (Fig. 14) in the smoothly rounded tubercles of the adults, which have pits (possibly minute setae) on the apex (not in a circular pattern). Specimens in the CL 10-25 mm size class had conical, or spiniform tubercles, unlike anything found on specimens above CL 30 mm. The small paratype of P. mendagnai, (Fig. 6A, B) has a spiniform enlargement (Fig. 6B) of one of the conical tubercles of the mid-branchial region, whereas the surrounding tubercles are much smaller. In positions on the carapace where juveniles have such enlarged conical tubercles, specimens larger than CL 30 mm have only wide (> 3 mm diameter), flat or rounded tubercles (Fig. 4D, F).
Published as part of Hall, Sally & Thatje, Sven, 2010, King crabs up-close: ontogenetic changes in ornamentation in the family Lithodidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura), with a focus on the genus Paralomis, pp. 495-524 in Zoosystema 32 (3) on page 504, DOI: 10.5252/z2010n3a10, http://zenodo.org/record/5167458
{"references":["MACPHERSON E. 2003. - Some lithodid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) from the Solomon Islands (SW Pacific Ocean), with the description of a new species. Scientia Marina 67 (4): 413 - 418."]}