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Issue: Vol. 5584 No. 3: 10 Feb. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-02-10
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5584.3.8
Page range: 429-436
Abstract views: 94
PDF downloaded: 9

On the taxonomy of Ptychognathus andamanicus Alcock, 1900 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Varunidae) from the Andaman Islands, India

Department of Life Sciences; Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University; Patan; Gujarat; India
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum; Faculty of Science; National University of Singapore; 2 Conservatory Drive; 117377 Singapore
Marine Biology Regional Centre; Zoological Survey of India; 130; Santhome High Road; 600 028 Chennai; Tamil Nadu; India
Zoological Survey of India; F.P.S. Building; 27 J. L. Nehru Road; Kolkata-700016; West Bengal; India
Department of Life Sciences; Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University; Patan; Gujarat; India
Crustacea Ptychognathus redescription valid species taxonomy India

Abstract

The identity of “Ptychognathus andamanica Alcock, 1900” originally described from Saddle Hill in North Andaman Island, India, is clarified. This species was synonymized with Ptychognathus riedelii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1868) based on the morphological characters of female specimens described by Alcock, 1900. A re-examination of the sole remaining syntype female (deposited in the Zoological Survey of India collection and herein designated as the lectotype) and a fresh male specimen collected from the Andaman Islands revealed that P. andamanicus is morphologically distinct from P. riedelii. Hence, P. andamanicus is herewith considered as a valid species. Ptychognathus andamanicus is redescribed and illustrated in the present study and its morphological differences with P. riedelii are discussed in detail.

 

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