Decapoda - Brachyura - Aethridae - Aethra
| Aethra edentata Edmondson, 1951 |
World Distribution
(Sakai, CD ETI; Ng, 1999) - Western Pacific. Japan, Marianas, Pagan, Guam, Hawaii, Marquesas. Also Mayotte, French Polynesia (Tuamotu). - Castro (2011, Zootaxa), shallow subtital to 106 m.
Environnement : Marine - Substrat/Association : Hard bottom (rock and rubbles)
Vertical range : Shallow-waters (0-100 m) - Min-Max observed: 1-106 m
Mayotte data
Aethra edentata Edmondson, 1951
Material Examined — Mayotte KUW 2009, st. 25, south Islet M'tzamboro, 15-20 m, 1 F 19.4 x 30.3 mm, MNHN B32402, MNHN-IU-2009-1164.
OTHERS RECORDS — Mayotte, ‘buoy n°8 in S pass’, in situ photograph by Matthias Deuss, July 2011, det. J. Poupin based on almost absent dentition on chelipeds and lateral margins of carapace (cf. photo in Legall & Poupin, 2018).
REMARKS — Following key in Ng (1999) the little specimen examined from Mayotte KUW 2009 must be attributed to A. edentata because it has no teeth on lower margin of palms of chelipeds. In addition, the aspect of dorsal surface of its carapace, almost smooth, matches well with the photograph of the type specimen of A. edentata (a female of comparable size 19.6 × 30 mm) in Ng (1999, fig. 3). Aethra edentata and A. scruposa are two very close species, the former sometimes considered as a subspecies of the latter, that are separated mostly by the dentition of the lower margin of the palm (absent in A. edentata, present in A. scruposa). This character is perhaps size related. Therefore, examination of series of specimens of different sizes would be useful to confirm the status of A. edentata.
DISTRIBUTION — IWP, Mayotte (this work, first record in IO) to Hawaii, French Polynesia; 1-106 m. First reported herein from Mayotte and Indian Ocean
Central Pacific data (Wallis & Futuna, Polynesia, Clipperton, Easter Island)
Aethra edentata - Ng, 1999: 116, fig. 4 ('Taiohae Bay'=Nuku Hiva Island; sp. USNM coll. 16 September 1967). - Unpublished record. Coll. and det. G. Paulay, Tuamotu, Tikehau atoll, Hoa at E end of Tuaherahera Motu and adjacent outer reef flat SE of hoa, just off Ohotu Motu, July 10, 2001 (FLMNH-UF 1609). - AAMP, Marquesas, 2012, Leg 2, St. 3, 4, 19, Nuku Hiva, Ua Huka, 10-30 m; Leg 3, coll. Starmer, St MQ1-R, hors grotte, Nuku Hiva, 8-10 m, sample JP7, Hiva Oa, St. MQ19-R, 20-25 m, coll. Starmer et al., photos (no sample?), St. MQ24-GR-R, Ua Pou, 6-10 m, coll. Starmer et al., sample LC310 (photos), St. MQ27-GR, Hatu Iti, 5-22 m, coll. Starmer et al., sample LC321.
References : PDF list, 214 pp (1.4 Mo)This species in Worms Database