Ocypodinae Rafinesque, 1815

Subfamily Ocypodinae Rafinesque, 1815 View in CoL

Ocypode ceratophthalmus (Pallas, 1772) #

Ocypode ceratophthalma View in CoL — Stimpson 1858b: 100; Stimpson 1907: 108, pl. 7(2); George 1982: 187, pl. 2; Morton and Morton 1983: 141, fig. 9.4(1, 2); ECK Wong 1990: 150; Choi 1992: 901; BKK Chan and Caley 2003: 90, figs. 1–3; BKK Chan et al. 2006: 44, fig. 1a.

Ocypoda ceratophthalma View in CoL — Gordon 1931: 528; Shen 1940a: 232.

Ocypode gaimardi Hill, Gott & Morton, 1975: 65 [nomen nudum]; Hill, Gott, Morton & Hodgkiss, 1978: 92 [nomen nudum]; Morton 1976: 101; Morton 1979a: 118; Hill and Phillipps 1981: 152, pl. 51d.

Ocypode ceratophthalmus View in CoL — Hill et al. 1975: 65; Morton 1976: 101; Hill et al. 1978: 92; Morton 1979a: 118, fig. 6.18e; Hill and Phillipps 1981: 152, pl. 51e; Fong et al. 2005: 53, 5 unnumb. figs.; K Sakai and Türkay 2013: 685, figs. 1D–I, 10, 32; Bravo et al. 2021: tab. 2.

Taxonomy: George and Knott (1965), K Sakai and Türkay (2013), Shih et al. (2015).

Type: Whereabouts and status unknown.

Type locality: India ( George and Knott 1965).

Distribution: Western Indian Ocean to East Pacific: from South Africa, Madagascar, India, Southeast and East Asia, to Australia and New Caledonia, towards Samoa, Hawaii and Clipperton Island (K Sakai and Türkay 2013).

Habitat: Intertidal; in deep tube-like burrows along exposed sandy shores ( BKK Chan et al. 2006).

Remarks: We are unable to trace identities of the name “ Ocypode gaimardi ” as presented in Hill et al. (1975 1978), Morton (1976 1979a) and Hill and Phillipps (1981) elsewhere in the literature. In the latter work, a guidebook, color illustrations under this name (pl. 51d) clearly depict a juvenile ghost crab undoubtedly identifiable as O. ceratophthalmus .

Throughout the vast geographical distribution of this species, based on sequences of the mitochondrial COI marker, Ma et al. (2018) recently showed this species shows substantial genetic structuring in the Indo-Pacific. There are three major genetically distinct clades: east, central and west clades in the Indo-Pacific ( Ma et al. 2018). The population in Hong Kong belongs to the central clade as presented by Ma et al. (2018). B.K.K. Chan and colleagues (2006) investigated burrow morphologies of juvenile and adults of O. certatophthalmus in Hong Kong.

Ocypode mortoni George, 1982 View in CoL #

? Ocypoda stimpsoni View in CoL — Shen 1940a: 233.

? Ocypode stimpsoni View in CoL — Hill et al. 1975: 65; Hill et al. 1978: 92; Morton 1979a: 118, fig. 6.17.

Ocypode mortoni George, 1982: 187 View in CoL , figs. 1C, 2C, pl. 3; Morton and Morton 1983: 141, fig. 8.7(3); Wong et al. 2012: 75, figs. 3–6; K Sakai and Türkay 2013: 722, figs. 3E, 20, 42.

Taxonomy: George (1982), Wong et al. (2012), K Sakai and Türkay (2013).

Type: Holotype ò WAM 2-81 About WAM , and paratypes in WAM.

Type locality: Sai Wan, eastern new Territories, Hong Kong.

Distribution: East Asia: South China and southern Japan (K Sakai and Türkay 2013).

Habitat: Intertidal; in burrows along exposed sandy shores.

Remarks: Ocypode stimpsoni Ortmann, 1897 (b) and O. mortoni are morphologically close, identified primarily by the latter possessing ocular stylets in adults ( Wong et al. 2012; K Sakai and Türkay 2013), and live coloration — O. stimpsoni dark orange-reddish when undisturbed, whereas O. mortoni is always a dull yellow and whitish in life. Along coasts of China, the southern distributional limit of the temperate O. stimpsoni had been recorded to be Zhejiang (Y Chen 1991). Although we cannot exclude the possibility that O. stimpsoni is or was present in Hong Kong, we are more inclined to suspect that Shen, in examining material from Hong Kong (1940a) and earlier from Hainan (1936c), had confounded the tropical form, later described as O. mortoni , under O. stimpsoni . We have surveyed local sandy shores for the past decade, but no O. stimpsoni has ever been reliably encountered. Moreover, it is difficult to believe that a conspicuous reddish Ocypode crab would have been missed by naturalists and locals. As such, we exclude it from the fauna of Hong Kong.

Ocypode sinensis Dai, Song & Yang, 1985 View in CoL #

Ocypode cordimana View in CoL — Stimpson 1858b: 100 [part]; Stimpson 1907: 110, pl. 15(2); Gee 1926: 165 [list]; George 1982: 187, pl. 1. [not fig. 2A]; Morton and Morton 1983: 141; Choi 1992: 901; BKK Chan and Caley 2003: 90, fig. 4. [not O. cordimanus Latreille, 1818 View in CoL ].

Ocypoda cordimana View in CoL — Balss 1922b: 142 [part]; Shen 1940a: 232.

Ocypode sinensis Dai, Song & Yang, 1985: 372 View in CoL , figs. 8–12, pl. 1(3–6); J-F Huang et al. 1998: 943, figs. 1a, 2a, c, e, g, 3a, c, e, f, 4a, c–e; Bravo et al. 2021: tab. 2.

Taxonomy: Dai et al. (1985), J-F Huang et al. (1998), Shih et al. (2015).

Type: Holotype ò BNHM J97088 View Materials b, and paratypes in BNHM and IZAS (= IZCAS) (J-F Huang et al. 1998).

Type locality: Jinyindao, Xisha (= Paracel) Islands, South China Sea.

Distribution: Eastern Indian Ocean to South China Sea and East Asia: East India, Christmas Island, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines, South China, Taiwan and Japan.

Habitat: Supratidal; in deep burrows along exposed sandy shores, often among low coastal vegetation.

Remarks: The widespread O. cordimanus Latreille, 1818 is repeatedly reported throughout the entire Indo-West Pacific region. Older local records under this name had probably included (or entirely representing) another similar species later described from South China as O. sinensis Dai, Song & Yang, 1985 . K. Sakai and Türkay (2013) treated O. sinensis merely as a juvenile of O. cordimanus but the available morphological and molecular evidence indicates both are distinct species (J-F Huang et al. 1998; Wong et al. 2012; Shih et al. 2015). We have no reliable reports of O. cordimanus sensu stricto in Hong Kong as yet.