Munidopsis lauensis Baba

Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992

(Figs. 2 A, 8A)

Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992: 326, fig. 3 (type locality: Valufa Ridge, Hine Hina, Lau Basin).— Chevaldonné & Olu, 1996: 291.— Baba, 2005: 290.— Martin & Haney, 2005: 478.— Cubelio et al., 2007b: 516, fig. 3.— Lin et al., 2013: 92, fig. 1, 2.

Material examined. Cold seep, ridge between continental shelf and slope, off Guangdong Province, China, southwest of Taiwan Island, northeastern South China Sea, MBM189173, 119 °17.123’E, 22°6.915’N, 2 ovig. females (PCL 11.8, 13.9 mm), 1119 m, coll. Jiaolong manned submersible of R/V Xiangyanghong 9, 18 June 2013.

Coloration. Entirely ivory white.

Habitat. Cold seep and hydrothermal vent environments; 1120–2000 m.

Distribution. Southwest Pacific from hydrothermal vents of back arc basins including the Manus Basin in Papua New Guinea, North Fiji Basin and Lau Basin near Fiji, and Brothers Seamount in the Kermadec Volcanic Arc; western Pacific, cold seep sites off southwestern Taiwan.

Remarks. Lin et al. (2013) reported this species from the same cold seep site as reported here and observed that the armature of the cheliped merus and the frontal margin of the carapace differed from those of the holotype. Lin et al. (2013) considered these differences to be intraspecific. Our specimens, agreeing with Lin et al.’s description, also differ from the type series in having the pereopod 2 not reaching to the end of the chelipeds (to the midlength of the dactylus), and the meri and carpi of the pereopods 2–4 unarmed (at most right-angled) on the distoflexor and distoextensor ends (Fig. 2 A).