Relative carapace and chela proportions of Australian Macrophthalmus pistrosinus compared with Japanese M. japonicus (Decapoda, Brachyura, Macrophthalmidae)

Abstract

Macrophthalmus pistrosinus Barnes & Davie, 2008, which is endemic to Western Australia, was formerly treated as M. japonicus in East Asia because of their morphological similarity. Examination of the proportional features, such as carapace length relative to carapace width in each sex and propodus length relative to carapace width in mature males, revealed more similarities to M. japonicus compared with M. banzai, which is phylogenetically more closely allied to M. japonicus than to M. pistrosinus.