Stomatopod Keys: Lysiosquilla

Key to Indo-West-Pacific Species of Lysiosquilla

1. Antennal potopod with angled dorsal projection. Antennal scale slender, length 3 or more times greatest width. Ventral keel of eighth thoracic somite sharp (apex of uropodal endopod dark).............. 2

Antennal protopod lacking angled dorsal projection. Antennal scale broad, length less than 3 times greatest width. Ventral keel of eighth thoracic somite rounded..................4

2. Rostral plate lacking median carina. Dactylus of claw with 15-17 teeth . . . . . .L. capensis Hansen, 1895

Rostral plate with median carina. Dactylus of claw with less than 15 teeth............... 3

3. Median carina on rostral plate flanked laterally by longitudinal grooves. Dactylus of claw with 7-8 teeth......................... L. sulcirostris Kemp 1913.

Median carina on rostral plate not flanked laterally by longitudinal grooves. Dactylus of claw with 10-13 (usually 12-13) teeth.......... L. tredecimdentata Holthuis, 1941

4. Rostral plate with low median carina, flanked by longitudinal grooves, or with median depression. Dactylus of claw with 7-9 teeth. Apex of uropodal endopod light................L. sulcata, new species

Rostral Plate with distinct median carina, not flanked laterally by longitudinal grooves. Dactylus of claw with 8-11 (usually 10-11) teeth (fewer in large females). Apex of Uropodal endopod dark.............L. maculata (Fabricius, 1793)

Reference:

Manning RB (1978). Synopsis of the indo-west-pacific species of Lysiosquilla Dena. Smith Cont Zool #259.