Pugettia producta (Randall, 1840)

Muñoz, Isabel, García-Raso, J. Enrique, Chillón, Begoña Sánchez & Cuesta, Jose A., 2025, Marine crabs from African waters housed in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC): An opportunity for biogeographic and systematic studies. Part I: Heterotremata (Decapoda, Brachyura), European Journal of Taxonomy 996, pp. 1-94 : 84-85

Pugettia producta (Randall, 1840)

Fig. 95

Material examined

UNKNOWN COUNTRY • 1 ♂ (74×81.8); 1850?; MNCN20.04/00154 .

Remarks

This specimen is dry preserved and placed inside a glass and wooden case for exhibition. There is a hole in the centre of its carapace from having been pinned at some point. Possibly, this specimen was part of the “Sala del Mar” exhibition.

It was identified as Herbstia rubra A. Milne-Edwards, 1869, and labeled as being from Cabo Verde. However, it turned out to be Pugettia producta (Randall, 1840) , a species common in the Northeast Pacific, not the African Atlantic. Therefore, this is clearly a mix-up.

Based on the available data analyzed, everything suggests that this specimen was likely collected during a Scientific Commission for the Pacific, held between 1862 and 1865, by order of Isabel II, Queen of Spain.

As it is not a species native to African waters, it should not be included in this catalogue, but we have chosen to cite it as an “additional specimen” because mislabeling in ancient collections is not uncommon and because, by doing so, we highlight the challenges that can arise when studying ancient collections.

Figures

Fig. 95. Pugettia producta (Randall, 1840), dry specimen MNCN20.04/00154 inside a glass and wooden box. Scale bars = 1 cm.