Exalloniscus coecus ( Dollfus, 1898 )

Exalloniscus coecus ( Dollfus, 1898) View in CoL

Figures 1 and 2

Alloniscus coecus Dollfus 1898: 375 View in CoL , fig. 22a, pl. XV fig. 22 (partim: specimens from Sumatra); Herold 1931: 308.

Exalloniscus coecus View in CoL ; Schmalfuss 1983: 380; Manicastri and Argano 1986: 38; Taiti and Ferrara 1986: 237; 1988: 343, fig. 2; Dalens 1987: 47; Schmalfuss 2003: 112.

? Exalloniscus coecus View in CoL ; Stebbing 1911: 191, pl. XII fig. A; Jackson 1936: 79, fig. 2; Ferrara and Taiti 1982: 478, fig. 11.

nec Alloniscus coecus View in CoL ; Dollfus 1898: 375 (partim: specimens from Java); Taiti and Ferrara 1988: 343.

Material examined

MALAYSIA: 1 ♂, 1 ♀ ( MZUF), Tioman Island , 23.IV.1999, leg. L.A. Ballerio.

Previous records

INDONESIA: Sumatra, Kajoe Tanam ( Dollfus 1898).? INDIA: Maddathorai, Travancore ( Stebbing 1911); Andaman Islands: South Andaman, Port Blair, Chiryiatapu ( Ferrara and Taiti 1982).? WEST MALAYSIA: Kuala Legap, Pelus Valley, Perak ( Jackson 1936).

Distribution

The species is present with certainty on Sumatra ( Indonesia) and Tioman Island ( Malaysia) while the records from Travancore and Andaman Islands ( India) and Perak ( Malaysia) need to be confirmed.

Remarks

The two specimens from Tioman Island ( ♂ 5.5 mm, ♀ 4.5 mm long) correspond very well to E. coecus from Sumatra as figured by Taiti and Ferrara (1988) and are here illustrated to confirm the identification ( Figures 1 and 2). In particular, the following characters are identical to those of the type specimens: the oval, flattened and colourless body ( Figure 1A), shape of cephalon and lack of eyes ( Figure 1B,C), telson triangular with straight sides ( Figure 1E), male pleopod 1 exopod with sinuous outer margin and triangular distal point bent outwards, and endopod straight with bilobed apex ( Figure 2D) .