Monday, September 17, 2012

[Crustacea • 1991] Rediscovery of Asthenognathus gallardoi Serène & Soh, 1976, from Pakistan (northern Arabian Sea) with description of the male



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.