Allogalathea elegans ( Adams, 1847 )

Botha, Thomas P. A., Griffiths, Charles L., Atkinson, Lara J. & Macpherson, Enrique, 2025, The Galatheidae (Anomura: Galatheoidea) of South Africa, with a description of a new species, Zootaxa 5661 (3), pp. 330-350 : 332-333

Allogalathea elegans ( Adams, 1847)

( Fig. 1 )

Galathea elegans Adams, 1847: 8 : plate 12, fig. 7 (type locality: Corregidor , Philippines).

Allogalathea elegans . — Cabezas et al., 2011: 256, figs. 2, 3 (and references cited therein); Emmerson, 2016a: 21, 24; Emmerson, 2016b: 443; Limviriyakul et al., 2016: 3, fig. 3a; Lin & Osawa, 2016: 489, fig. 1a; Lee et al., 2019: 726, figs. 1, 2.

Material examined. South Africa, 27°02’24.00”S, 32°54’54.00”E, 75 m, 06/06/1990, SAMC-A094531 , 1 ♂ 5.9 mm . South Africa, 29°52’59.9”S, 31°00’00.0”E, 5 m, 01/01/1929, SAMC-A07834 , material lost .

Coloration in life. ( Figs. 1A, B ). Of the four colour patterns observed by Baba (1979), patterns three and four have been observed in South Africa, these comprising a dark carapace with two narrow light stripes ( Fig. 1A ) and a carapace with alternating longitudinal stripes of dark and light ( Fig. 1B ).

Global distribution. Widespread in the Indo-Pacific, from South Africa to New Caledonia and Japan, 0–120 m.

South African distribution. Durban Harbour to off Boteler Point, 75 m ( Fig. 5 ).

Genetic data. Not available for South African specimens .

Remarks. Cabezas et al. (2011) did not report A. elegans from South Africa, but Barnard (1950) reported on a specimen collected from Durban Harbour. The range in South Africa is confirmed to extend from Durban northwards to the Mozambican border. This species has a close association with crinoids and is often collected from these host organisms, mimicking their colours. In South Africa, it is known to occur on Tropiometra carinata ( Lamarck, 1816) and here reported on Cenometra bella (Hartlaub, 1890) . The specimen first reported from South Africa by Barnard (1947, 1950) from Durban Harbour is considered lost, as confirmed by staff of the Natural History Collections of the Iziko South African Museum.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A, Allogalathea elegans (Adams, 1847), colour pattern three, Roonies, Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, 32 m, not collected; B, A. elegans on Cenometra bella (Hartlaub, 1890), colour pattern four, Aliwal Shoal, KwaZulu-Natal, 30 m, not collected. Photographs: Mike and Valda Fraser.

FIGURE 5. Marine ecoregions in South African waters (Sink et al. 2019) with distribution of species in the genera Allogalathea, Lauriea and Phylladiorhynchus superimposed.