Decapoda - Brachyura - Gecarcinidae - Tuerkayana

Tuerkayana hirtipes (Dana, 1852)



World Distribution
Ng & Davie (2012: 91) - Indonesia, Vietnam, New Caledonia, Palau, Solomon, Guam, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, ?Nicobar, ?Christmas. Probably not French Polynesia.

Environnement : Land - Substrat/Association : Hard bottom (rock and rubbles)

Vertical range : Land & Freshwater - Min-Max observed: 0-6 m

New Caledonia data
Nouvelle Caledonie, STATION — Ng P & Guinot D, The Raffes Bulletin of Zoology 49, 2: 311-338
Ng & Davie (2012: 91) - New Caledonia - 1 male (61.4 × 78.0 mm) (MNHN-B 24813), Loyalty Islands, Lifou Island, We Cave, coll. B. Richer de Forges, 14 Jul.1993; 1 male (61.0 × 79.0 mm) (MNHN-B 24811), Loyalty Islands.
Tuerkayana aff. hirtipes (Dana, 1851) - Guinot et al., 2018: 551 (Zoosytema) - n. comb., 1 male 61.0 × 79.0 mm, Loyalty Islands, Lifou Island, We cave, Richer de Forges coll. and det. Discoplax hirtipes, 14.VII.1993, MNHN-IU-2017-8397 (= MNHN-B24811) [with this remark, p. 603 - In the list of the examined material of their Discoplax hirtipes, Ng & Shih (2014: 116) included a specimen from Loyalty Islands deposited in the MNHN, a male 61.0 × 79.0 mm, Lifou Island, We Cave, coll. Richer de Forges B, 14 July 1993, MNHN-IU-2017-8397 (= MNHN-B24811). The examination examination of this specimen (Fig. 4F) showed that the inflated carapace and the undefined carapace margins do not exactly conform to those of the lectotype of Cardisoma hirtipes (see Ng 2017: fig. 1A-C), which is smaller 47.4 × 58.2 mm. These differences may be attributed to the sizes of specimens, since most gecarcinids display significant morphological variations of carapace and chelipeds according to the growth: in large adults the carapace becomes proportionately more swollen and rounded, with less defined anterolateral margins, and the chelipeds are modified. The male specimen of Lifou is obviously different from D. magna (here Tuerkayana magnum n. comb.) from Java and Christmas Island with defined carapace margins that we have examined (Fig. 4E). For the moment we identify the specimen from Lifou as Tuerkayana aff. hirtipes n. comb. A further revision is required]

Central Pacific data (Wallis & Futuna, Polynesia, Clipperton, Easter Island)
Cardisoma hirtipes - Heller, 1865: 35 (Tahiti). - Türkay, 1974: 229, fig. 2, 12-13 (Tahiti). - Guinot, 1985: 454, with a ? (List). - Poupin, 1994a: 53 (Text); 1996a: 65 (Checklist). - Discoplax hirtipes - Ng & Guinot, 2001: 330, 333, 335 (Key of Discoplax and list of recognised species of Gecarcinidae).

All these records are doubtful. See (Ng & Shih, 2014, Raffles Bulletin: 125, map fig. 15) - The sole record of this species (hirtipes) from Tahiti in French Polynesia was based also on Heller (1865: 35) but this is also very doubtful as the species has not been found there since, even though it was accepted as valid by Türkay (1974) and has been included in the faunal lists by Guinot (1985) and Poupin (1994, 1996, 2005). Guinot (1985) expressed doubt but retained this record with reservation. Interestingly, it is not listed by Poupin & Juncker (2010), although three other gecarcinids are known from that area (see also Ng et al., 2011). In addition, there is also no record from Wallis & Futuna (Poupin, 2008), so the easternmost distribution is Fiji (Fig. 15).

Comment(s) on data
New genus Tuerkayana is from Guinot D., Ng N. K. & Rodríguez Moreno P. A. 2018. — Review of grapsoid families for the establishment of a new family for Leptograpsodes Montgomery, 1931, and a new genus of Gecarcinidae H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Grapsoidea MacLeay, 1838). Zoosystema 40 (26): 547-604. https://doi.org/10.5252/zoosystema2018v40a26. http://zoosystema.com/40/26

References : PDF list, 214 pp (1.4 Mo)

This species in Worms Database