(Wood-Mason, 1891)
Diagnosis:
Carapace smooth between ridges and large spines. Postrostral carinae with three teeth. Chelae of first pereiopods heavily ridged and spinulose, without large spines. No prominent basal spine on outer edge of movable finger of large chela. Inner margin of merus of first pereiopod weakly spinulose. Surface of abdominal tergites conspicuously sculptured. Raised parts of dorsal surface of abdominal somites smooth and naked. Second to fifth abdominal somites with marked dorsomedian carina, flanked by pair of conspicuous longitudinal grooves. Fifth abdominal somite without distinct spines on carina separating tergite from pleuron. Dorsomedian carina of sixth abdominal somite without submedian spines. Spine in middle of lateral margin of sixth abdominal somite short, tip far from posterolateral margin of somite.
Type:
Type locality: "Investigator" Station 115, Andaman Sea, 11°31'40"N 92°46'40"E; 188-220 fathoms ( = 344-402 m), green mud. Holotype male in ZSI, no. 5812/10, in alcohol, condition poor (not labelled as type).
Geographical Distribution:
Indo-West Pacific region: East Africa, the Andaman Sea, the South China Sea, and Indonesia. Records of M. andamanicus from S.E. Africa and Madagascar pertain to M. mozambicus, those from Australia to M. velutinus. A record from Madang, Papua New Guinea (King,1988: 109) needs verification.
Habitat and Biology:
Depth range from 250 to 750 m, but mostly between 300 and 450 m. Substrate of hard mud; the species possibly lives in burrows.
Size:
Total body length up to 20 cm, most common between 15 and 18 cm; carapace length about 4.5 to 6 cm.
Interest to Fisheries:
Longhurst (1970: 286) mentioned the species as a potential fishery resource off Hong Kong. It is well possible that the same is true in other parts of its range. Its size and the fact that the species lives on trawlable bottoms are in favour of this supposition. Records of commercial catches of M. andamanicus off S.E. Africa and Madagascar refer to M. mozambicus; such records from Australia are actually based on material of M. velutinus.