Galathea cf. pubescens Stimpson, 1858

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 : 341

Galathea cf. pubescens Stimpson, 1858

Galathea pubescens Stimpson, 1858: 90 ; Stimpson, 1907: 233; Macpherson & Robainas-Barcia, 2015: 256 , fig. 120A (colour photo, key, synonymies).

Not Galathea pubescens .— Baba, 1990: 956 (= Galathea villosa Macpherson & Robainas-Barcia, 2015 ).

Dubious identification:

Galathea pubescens .— Tirmizi & Javed, 1993: 72, fig. 31.

Global distribution. Japan to New Caledonia, Philippines, Indonesia ( Kei Islands ), Tonga Vanuatu and off Central Queensland and South Africa (though record dubious); 45–890 m.

South African distribution. East of Durban , KwaZulu-Natal, 138 m ( Fig. 6 ) .

Remarks. The South African material collected on the IIOE I (International Indian Ocean Expedition) from East of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal at 138 m ( Fig. 6 ) was identified as G. pubescens by Tirmizi & Javed (1993). Since the type material is from Japan, however, there is some question over the identity of these South African specimens. This was also highlighted by Macpherson & Robainas-Barcia (2015) who suggested that the status of the South African material is dubious, and more work is required to confirm its identity. Tirmizi & Javed (1993) indicated that the specimens collected during IIOE I would be deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). However, when staff of the USNM were contacted, they confirmed the material was not in their possession and attempts to contact the University of Karachi, where Tirmizi and Javed were based, were unsuccessful. Interestingly, some specimens from Madagascar identified as G. pubescens by Baba (1990) were deemed to be a new species, Galathea villosa , by Macpherson & Robainas-Barcia (2015). It is likely that the South African material (and indeed all Western Indian Ocean material) could also represent this species, but until more material is collected, the identity remains unknown and hence it is listed here as cf. Moreover, it is worth noting that the coordinates given in Tirmizi & Javed (1993) are wrong, and the latitude should read “ 29°35’S ”, rather than “35’S”, based on the station information given for Phylladiorhynchus serrirostris (now P. janiqueae ) in Tirmizi & Javed (1980).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Marine ecoregions in South African waters (Sink et al. 2019) with distribution of species in the genus Galathea superimposed.