Abstract
On a new species of freshwater crab of the genus Mekhongthelphusa Naiyanetr, 1994 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae) from south Yunnan, China
Highlights
Mekhongthelphusa Naiyanetr, 1994, was initially described as a monotypic genus based on Potamon (Parathelphusa) tetragonum Rathbun, 1902. Naiyanetr and Ng (1995) described a second species, Mekhongthelphusa kengsaphu Naiyanetr and Ng, 1995
Specimens of the morphologically closest congeners to the new species (i.e., M. brandti and M. neisi) are listed and illustrated within for comparative purposes; the detailed taxonomy of these and other nominal species are beyond the scope of the present study, and will be treated in an upcoming revision of the genus instead
Naiyanetr (1985) first established the genus “Mekhongthelphusa” in a brief one-page abstract in which he described the characters of the taxon, but made no mention of any type species or of which species were included
Summary
Mekhongthelphusa Naiyanetr, 1994, was initially described as a monotypic genus based on Potamon (Parathelphusa) tetragonum Rathbun, 1902. Naiyanetr and Ng (1995) described a second species, Mekhongthelphusa kengsaphu Naiyanetr and Ng, 1995. 1994, which included Chulathelphusa brandti (Bott, 1968) and Chulathelphusa neisi (Rathbun, 1902), under Mekhongthelphusa, based on morphological (D.C.J. Yeo, unpublished data) and molecular (H.T. Shih, unpublished data) evidence. This genus currently contains four species, Mekhongthelphusa brandti (Bott, 1968), M. kengsaphu, M. neisi and Mekhongthelphusa tetragona (Rathbun, 1902), distributed in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam (Naiyanetr, 1994; Naiyanetr and Ng, 1995; D.C.J. Yeo, unpublished data). During a survey in Yunnan, China, specimens of a freshwater crab were obtained from Menglong Town, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture These specimens proved to belong to an undescribed species of Mekhongthelphusa, the first record of the genus in China. The current paper just treats the present discovery of a new species from China, which will be included in the eventual revision of the genus
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