Taxonomy and Systematics of Homoioplax haswelli (Miers, 1884)

The Panopeidae Ortmann, 1893, is a wholly American and Atlantic brachyuran family, with the exception of Homoioplax haswelli (Miers, 1884). This species was first described from the Arafura Sea, north of Australia, and subsequently reported from off the Kei Islands and off northwestern Australia. Homoioplax Rathbun, 1914, was established and assigned to the Prionoplacinae Alcock, 1900 in the Goneplacidae MacLeay, 1838, because the male pleon did not fully reach the bases of the ambulatory legs. Prionoplacinae was subsequently shown to be a junior synonym of Eucratopsinae Stimpson, 1871, and eventually placed in the Panopeidae Ortmann, 1893. The position of Homoioplax however was not re-evaluated and as a result the genus has remained in the Panopeidae as the only Indo-West Pacific representative of the family. Consequently, this study has examined the juvenile syntypes of H. haswelli in detail with a view to revising its systematics.

Dorsal habitus. Carcinoplax haswelli (Miers, 1884) comb. nov. A, lectotype male (10.2 × 7.3 mm) (NHM 1882.7); B, paralectotype female (9.0 × 6.6 mm) (NHM 1882.7). Taken by Kevin Webb, NHM Photo Unit.

Read the full article, published by Zoological Studies, here

Follow Zoological Studies on Twitter @ZooStudies and Facebook