Macpherson Enrique, Amon Diva, Clark Paul F
Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) C. acc. Cala San Fracesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Girona, Spain.; Email:
Aquatic Invertebrates Division, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, England.; Email:
Zootaxa. 2014 Jan 7;3753:291-6. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3753.3.8.
Wood and whale bone colonisation experiments were undertaken on the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, 18 November 2009. Later, 14 December 2011, squat lobsters were recovered from the submerged wood and assigned to Munidopsis sp. Further study indicated that the specimens belonged to the group of species having a rostrum without lateral spines, presence of two strong epigastric spines, unarmed abdominal segments, one dorsal eye-spine, and with the second pereiopod not reaching the end of the first. They were similar to M. hemingi Alcock & Anderson, 1899 but differed in that the epigastric spines are well developed (vs. tubercles in M. hemingi), the lateral margins of the carapace are straight (vs. more convex in M. hemingi), the eye has a tubercular process mediodorsally (vs. a papilliform spinule at mesial angle) and the epipods on the fourth pereiopod were absent (vs. present in M. hemingi). Consequently the Munidopsis specimens from the Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge were considered to be an undescribed species.
2009年11月18日，在西南印度洋海岭进行了木材和鲸骨定殖实验。后来，2011年12月14日，从水下木材中回收了蹲龙虾，并将其归类为穆氏铠甲虾属（Munidopsis sp.）。进一步研究表明，这些标本属于以下物种组：具无侧刺的喙，有两个强壮的上腹刺，腹节无武装，有一个背眼刺，且第二对步足未达第一对步足末端。它们与1899年的赫氏穆氏铠甲虾（M. hemingi Alcock & Anderson）相似，但不同之处在于上腹刺发育良好（赫氏穆氏铠甲虾为瘤状），头胸甲侧缘笔直（赫氏穆氏铠甲虾更凸出），眼睛在中背部有一个瘤状突起（赫氏穆氏铠甲虾在内角处有一个乳头状小刺），第四对步足上没有上肢（赫氏穆氏铠甲虾有）。因此，来自西南印度洋海岭的穆氏铠甲虾标本被认为是一个未描述的物种。
