Fig. 1. Asthenognathus gallardoi Serene & Soh. A, animal in dorsal view; B, carapace; C, third maxilliped; D, cheliped; E, chela, in lateral view; F, male abdomen; G, first male gonopod; G', G"', tip of same.
A few years back (1986) when Dr. R. B. Manning visited Pakistan, one of us (NG) accompanied him on field trips, collecting with the help of a yabby pump, which was available at that time. Several specimens of Asthenognathus gallardoi were obtained from deep burrows. This species is of small size and in all probability nocturnal in habit.
The only description of the species is that by Serene & Soh (1976), based on an ovigerous female collected from the Andaman Sea. According to Serene & Soh a female in the collection of the Institute of Oceanography at Nhatrang, collected ten years earlier by Dr. Gallardo from Nhatrang Bay, Vietnam, also belongs to this species. As such the present specimens afford the first subsequent record of the species and also extend its known range considerably. Further, the males collected from Pakistan are the first known males of the species.
The berried female was kept in a glass aquarium where the larvae hatched the next day but could not survive due to unfavourable conditions.
Ghani, N. and Tirmizi, N. M. 1991. Rediscovery of Asthenognathus gallardoi Serène & Soh, 1976, from Pakistan (northern Arabian Sea) with description of the male. Crustaceana. 61: 100–102.
