Thalamita sima

H. Milne Edwards, 1834

Carapace densely covered with short hairs, 3 pairs of gastric ridges, mesogastric uninterrupted, epibranchial ridges interrupted by cervical grooves and also mesially, 2 broad cardiac ridges interrupted mesially; front with 2 lobes, separated by small but distinct cleft; 5 antero-lateral teeth, fourth the smallest, fifth the most protruding. Basal antennal joint with a smooth, short and curved crest. Upper surface of cheliped palm with 1 spine on anterior and 2 on posterior borders, antero-external one reduced to a blunt tubercle; inner face with a broad low indistinct ridge, merging with squamiform markings. Posterior border of propodus without spines. Male first pleopod curving and narrowing to widely flared tip; terminal bristles short, stout, and densely packed on flared portion. (Türkay 1995)

Front 2-lobed, not very protruding; tips of chelipeds pointed, not spoon-shaped; basal antennal joint with acute smooth, or minutely granular, crest; 5 antero-lateral teeth; cardiac ridges present on carapace; mesobranchial ridges anterior to cardiac ridges; hand of cheliped with squamiform markings (except in juveniles), male first pleopod with flared tip. (Davie 1999)

Type locality: Coromandel Coast, India.
Range: Mozambique; South Africa - Cape Agulhas (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Mauritius (Bouvier, 1915b, Michel, 1964, Stephenson, 1972a); Persian Gulf (Alcock, 1899a); India- Coromandel Coast (H. Milne Edwards, 1834); Sri Lanka; Strait of Malacca (Stephenson, 1972a); Japan - Tokyo Bay, Kochi, and Kagoshima (Ortmann, 1893), Nagasaki (Alcock, 1899a), Shimoda (Stimpson, 1907, Sakai, 1935), Tokyo, Enoshima and Sagami Bay (Parisi, 1916), Tateyama Bay, Misaki, Shimoda, Nanki Shirahama and Nagasaki (Sakai, 1939), Sagami Bay (Sakai, 1965b), from Tokyo Bay to Okinawa (Sakai, 1976a), Amakusa (Yamaguchi et al., 1976), Yamagata Prefecture (Suzuki S., 1979), Tanabe (Miyake, 1983), Hakodate (Komai et al., 1992), Sagami Bay (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Korea - Zenra-nando (Kamita, 1941), Seongsanpo, Seowipo, Songnam, and Hae-undae (Kim, 1973), Cheju-do (Kim & Chang, 1985); Taiwan - Chi-lung and P'eng-hu (Lin, 1949), Kaohsiung, Ping-tung, P'eng-hu, I-lan Province and Chi-lung (Huang & Yu, 1997); China - Hong Kong (Alcock, 1899a, Stimpson, 1907, Shen, 1934), Tsimei, Fujian Province (Shen, 1940b), Guangdong and Fujian (Dai & Yang, 1991); Thailand; Cambodia (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Malaysia; Singapore (Nobili, 1903c, Stephenson, 1972a, Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Philippines - Bucas Grande (Stephenson, 1972a), Manila Bay (Moosa, 1981); Sulu Archipelago - Jolo (Stephenson, 1972a); Indonesia - Gaspar Strait (Stimpson, 1907), Java Sea, Pulu Balu, Sunda Strait, Kepulauan Kai and Makassar (Stephenson, 1972a), Timor (Stephenson, 1975); Guam; Mariana Islands; Torres Strait (Miers, 1886); Australia - south Australian coast (Miers, 1886), Cape Jaubert (Rathbun, 1924c), Exmouth Gulf to Swan River, W.A., Port Darwin and Bathurst, N.T., Torres Strait to Southport, Queensland, Nelson's Bay to Botany Bay, N.S.W. (Stephenson & Hudson, 1957), Moreton Bay (Campbell & Stephenson, 1970), Thursday Island (Stephenson, 1972a), Frankland Group and NW Australia (Apel & Spiridonov, 1998); Hawaiian Islands (Rathbun, 1906); intertidal to 50 m.

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