Philyra heterograna

Ortmann, 1892

The upper surface of carapace is smooth and even, with the branchio-cardiac grooves ill-defined; there are some granules distributed on the branchial, gastric and cardiac regions, the granules being fewer than in Philyra pisum. The front narrower, truncate and tomentose, its median indentation obscure. The margins of the carapace are beaded with distant granules, some of which at regular intervals are enlarged. The hepatic facets are ill-defined, its superior ridge being almost indistinct.
The epistome never projects beyond the edge of the front; the anterior boundaries of the pterygostomial regions also never project beyond the front, having no cleft below the eyes. The merus of the external maxillipeds is very narrow and pointed at the tip as shown in Ortmann's figure.
Chelipeds of the male are stout and nearly 1.8 times the length of the carapace; merus is subcylindrical and covered with granules except the upper distal surface; carpus and propodus are defined by a line of granules along the inner border; the immovable finger is subequal to the length of the palm; typically its cutting edge is proximally armed with a broad tooth, which is again serrated, but in out specimen this broad tooth is obtusely triangular. The movable finger is longer than the immovable finger and its cutting edge is armed with a large tooth near the middle, the basal half of the edge being concave and the distal half serrated. The ambulatory legs are much more slender than those of Philyra pisum.
I think Philyra peitaihoensis Shen 1932 is in all probability synonymous with this species. (Sakai, 1937)

Type locality: Tokyo Bay, Japan.
Range: Japan - Tokyo Bay (Ortmann, 1892), Misaki and Onomichi (Sakai, 1937a), Sea of Ariake (Miyake et al., 1962), Sagami Bay, Mikawa Bay, and Onomichi (Sakai, 1976a), Mikawa Bay, Onomichi, and Mimase (Muraoka, 1998); Korea - Hansan Island (Kamita, 1941); East China Sea (Takeda & Miyake, 1970a); China - Beidaihe, Tanggu, Qingdao, and Shandong (Shen, 1932), Guangdong and Shandong Peninsula (Dai & Yang, 1991).

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