An annotated checklist of brachyuran crabs from Taiwan (Crustacea ...

Ng et al. : Checklist of crabs from Taiwan 33
the Pilumnidae which recognises five subfamilies: Pilumninae, Heteropanopeinae, Halimedinae, and
for two new subfamilies, Planopilumninae and Heteropilumninae. Ongoing studies by the first author
indicate that most of this classification is untenable. For example, there are no clear characters delineating
the Pilumninae, Heteropanopeinae and Heteropilumninae, the latter which contains members of the
the Pilumninae and Rhizopinae as currently understood. Certainly, as it now stands, many members of
the Pilumninae and Heteropanopeinae cannot be effectively distinguished from each other and both are
probably synonyms. With regards to the Planopilumninae, the type species of the type genus,
Planopilumnus spongiosus (Nobili, 1905), is actually not a pilumnid at all but closer to goneplacids
like the Pseudoziinae (P. K. L. Ng, unpublished data) instead. The genus Planopilumnus as currently
understood, is heterogeneous. Additionally, Ng and Clark (2001) regarded the echinoderm-associates of
the family Eumedonidae Dana, 1852, only as a subfamily of the Pilumnidae.
The records of Carcinoplax meridionaiis Rathbun, 1923, Beteroplax nitida Miers, 1879, Heteroplax
nagasakiensis Sakai, 1934, Ommatocarcinus macgillivrayi White, 1851, and Eucrate crenata
(De Haan, 1835) by Huang (1994) are not included for the time being as it was merely stated as from
the Taiwan Straits, without making clear from which side of the straits it was collected from. Carcinoplax
suruguensis Rathbun, 1932, was also reported by Huang (1994) from somewhere in the Taiwan
Straits, but we have examined specimens (now with J. -F. Huang) from northern Taiwan, so we include
this record in our list. Similarly, Fang's (1991) record of Eucrate solans from an unspecified location
in the Taiwan Straits is established in the present study through the first confirmed report of this
species from Taiwan proper.
Subfamily Goneplacinae MacLeay, 1838
Ommatocarcinus pulcher (Barnard, 1950) — Ng and Huang, 1997
Subfamily Carcinoplacinae H. Milne Edwards, 1852
Carcinoplax longimana (De Haan, 1835) — Lin, 1949; Wang and Chen, 1981; Huang, 1994;
Jeng, Jan, Tzeng, Feng and Yang, 1994; Ho, 1996; Jeng, Jan, Tzeng, Feng and Yang, 1996;
Jeng, Jan, Tzeng and Feng, 1997; Huang and Liitzen, 1998; Jeng, Shao, Tzeng, Feng and Wu,
1998; Ng, 1998
Carcinoplax indica Doflein, 1904 — Huang, 1994; present record [Fig. 7c] [This species was reported
from an unspecified location in the Taiwan Strait, but the present specimens are the first
confirmed presence of the taxon from Taiwan proper. ]
Carcinoplax suruguensis Rathbun, 1932 — Huang, 1994 [Fig. 7d] [As noted above, Huang (1994)
reported this species from an unspecified location in the Taiwan Straits, but we have seen specimens
from northern Taiwan and can thus confidently include it for the Taiawanese fauna. The taxonomy
of this and other goneplacids, is now being studied by J. -F. Huang and P. -W. Hsueh. ]
Carcinoplax tomentosa Sakai, 1969 — present record [Fig. 7eJ
MathUdeUa serrata (Sakai, 1974) — Ng and Chan, 2000
Platypilumnus soelae Garth, 1987 — Ng and Chan, 1998