Alcock & Anderson, 1899

Carapace about as broad as long, smooth; front with 3 lobes of which the middle one is bifid at tip; antero-lateral borders with 4 teeth, last one spiniform and well separated from the others. Basal joint of antenna short but still longer than broad and freely movable; flagellum moderately long, situated in a narrow orbital hiatus. Chelipeds somewhat heterochelous, smooth except for a sharp tooth at the inner angle of the carpus and an upper distal spine of the palm. Swimming leg naked. (Türkay 1995)

Portunidae with eyestalks of normal length; carapace relatively narrow, not convex in both directions; 4 antero-lateral teeth; basal joint of second antenna broad; chelipeds and legs both long, one pair of legs as long as chelipeds; last legs typical swimming paddles, dactyl oval; ambulatory legs fairly stout. (Davie 1999)

Type locality: Andaman Sea.
Range: Andaman Sea (Alcock & Anderson, 1899, Alcock, 1899a, c); Nicobar Islands (Doflein, 1904); Japan - Tosa Bay (Sakai, 1976a), Kumano-nada (Miyake, 1983); South China Sea - Tungsha Island (Ng, 2000a); Philippines - Calagula Islands (Ng, 2000a); Indonesia - Kepulauan Kai (Moosa, 1996); Australia - mid-eastern and south-east Queensland (Davie & Short, 1989); New Caledonia (Stephenson, 1972a, Moosa, 1996, Ng, 2000a); Vanuatu (Ng, 2000a); 150-780 m.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocyemata
Infraorder Heterotremata
Superfamily Portunoidea
Family Portunidae
Subfamily Macropipinae
Genus Benthochascon
Species Benthochascon hemingi

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Not included in WoRMS database

Scientific synonyms and common names

Benthochascon Hemingi Alcock & Anderson, 1899: 10. -- Alcock, 1899a: 15. -- Alcock & MacGilchrist, 1905: pl. 76, figs 4, 4a.
Benthochascon hemingi Alcock, 1899c: 69, pl. 3, fig. 2. -- Doflein, 1904: 90, pl. 29, figs 1-2, pl. 41, figs 1-2. -- Sakai, 1965c: 39, 44, pl. 6, fig. 2. -- Stephenson, 1972b: 22. -- Sakai, 1976a: 333, pl. 114. -- Miyake, 1983: 79, pl. 27, fig. 3. -- Davie & Short, 1989: 183, fig. 14D. -- Stevcic, 1991: 128. -- Moosa, 1996: 513, figs 9d-e. -- Ng, 2000a: 311, figs 1-4.
Carcinonectes pacificus Stephenson, 1972a: 129, fig. 3.

Botan-gazami [Japanese]
gazami, Botan- [Japanese]

Alcock, A. & A.R.S. Anderson, 1899. Natural History Notes from H.M. Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator, Commander T.H. Heming, R.N., commanding. Ser. III. No. 2. An Account of the Deep-sea Crustacea dredged during the Surveying-Season of 1897-98. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (7) 3: 1-27, 278-292.

Alcock, A. & A.C. MacGilchrist, 1905. Crustacea XI. In: Illustrations of the Zoology of the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator, under the command of commander T.H. Heming, R.N., pls 68-76.

Alcock, A.W., 1899a. Materials for a carcinological fauna of India. No. 4. The Brachyura Cyclometopa. Part 2. A revision of the Cyclometopa with an account of the families Portunidae, Cancridae and Corystidae. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, 68, part 2(1): 1-104, pls 1-2.

Alcock, A.W., 1899c. An account of the deep-sea Brachyura collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator. Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, 4: 1-85, pls 1-4.

Davie, P.J.F. & J.W. Short, 1989. Deepwater Brachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda) from southern Queensland, Australia with descriptions of four new species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 27(2): 157-187, figs 1-14.

Doflein, F., 1904. Brachyura. In: C. Chun, Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer Valdivia 1898-1899, Jena, 6: i-xiv, 1-314, figs 1-68, pl. 1. Atlas: pls 1-58, 1 map.

Miyake, S., 1983. Japanese Crustacean Decapods and Stomatopods in color. Vol. II. Brachyura (Crabs), i-viii, 1-277, pls 1-64. Hoikusha, Osaka. (In Japanese; second edition in 1992)

Moosa, M.K., 1996. Crustacea Decapoda: Deep-water swimming crabs from the South-West Pacific, particularly New Caledonia (Brachyura, Portunidae). In: A. Crosnier (ed.), Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, Volume 15. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 168: 503-530, figs 1-10.

Ng, P.K.L., 2000a. The deep-water swimming crabs of the genus Benthochascon (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae), with description of a new genus for the american B. schmitti. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 20 (special number 2): 310-324, figs 1-8.

Sakai, T., 1965c. Notes from the Carcinological Fauna of Japan. (II). Researches on Crustacea, 2: 37-46, figs 1-2, pls 5-6, frontispieces 2-3. (In Japanese and English).

Sakai, T., 1976a. Crabs of Japan and the Adjacent Seas. (In 3 volumes: (1) English text: i-xxix, 1-773, figs 1-379, (2) Plates volume: 1-16, pls 1-251, (3) Japanese text: 1-461, figs 1-2, 3 maps.) Kodansha Ltd, Tokyo.

Stephenson, W., 1972a. Portunid crabs from the Indo-West-Pacific and Western America in the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae). Steenstrupia, 2(9): 127-156, figs 1-7.

Stephenson, W., 1972b. An annotated check list and key to the Indo-West-Pacific swimming crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae). Bulletin of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 10: 1-64.

Stevcic, Z., 1991. Note on some rare and aberrant Australian crabs. The Beagle, 8(1): 121-133, illustr.

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