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Review

Review REVIEW R. SERENE, Crustacés Décapodes Brachyoures de l'Océan Indien occidental et de la Mer Rouge. Xanthoidea: Xanthidae et Trapeziidae. Avec un addendum par A. Crosnier: Car- piliidae et Menippidae. Faune tropicale, no. 24, 349 p., 246 fig., 48 pl. 1984, Editions ORSTOM, 70-74 route d'Aulnay, 93 140 Bondy, France. Price FF 300 (plus postage). This important work of the late R. Serene now published by the Office de la Recherche Scien- tifique et Technique Outre-Mer (ORSTOM) in the "Faune tropicale" series had its origin in the study of numerous xanthoid crabs from the Malagasy region collected by A. Crosnier at Nosy Be and by workers at the Station d'Endoume, at Tulear. Throughout a scientific career spent almost entirely in eastern Asia, Serene devoted a major part of his research to the Brachyura, producing a large number of publications on the xanthids. At the same time he assembled exten- sive records of the species in the Indo-West-Pacific region. In dealing with several collections from the western Indian Ocean, particularly that of A. J. Bruce from Tanzania and many samples borrowed from various museums, he enlarged the geographical coverage of his work to . the entire region. At the time of his death, in 1980, Serene had practically completed the study of the families Xanthidae and Trapeziidae, to which belong 225 species, subspecies and forms, in 59 genera. A list of references and synonyms, extensive though not exhaustive, is furnished for each taxon. The list of material examined includes the sex and the dimensions of the specimens. An 'Obser- vations' section deals with the distribution and, where appropriate, the morphological characteristics and affinities of each taxon, with critical remarks on the earlier references. As a general rule only new taxa are defined or described (3 subfamilies, 6 genera, 8 species) but the keys provide very detailed diagnoses of the genera and species both in French and English, and, at the specific level, these include all of the Indo-West Pacific forms (362 species). These keys will doubtless appear to be subject to criticism, and Serene himself felt them to be imperfect in the case of some inadequately described species of which he had not seen specimens. They nevertheless usually lead to a correct identification and, in all cases, direct the user towards such an identification. The illustrations are numerous and of high quality. The male first pleopods are almost always figured, either for the first time, or after earlier publications. The photographic coverage is very extensive; all of the species except four are represented. The bibliography (464 references) is without doubt the most extensive which has been publish- ed for the xanthid fauna of the Indo-West-Pacific. The manuscript left by Serene was a first draft and the illustrations were incomplete. Great credit is due to A. Crosnier for having verified and corrected the manuscript and filling the gaps. He has also added to the value of the work in presenting, in an addendum, the 22 species belong- ing to the families Carpiliidae and Menippidae. Serene's work, published in an impeccable manner, and in a format which does justice to his excellent illustrations, is now the basis for all research on the xanthoid crabs of the Indo-West- Pacific region. JACQUES FOREST http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Crustaceana Brill

Review

Forest, Jacques
Crustaceana , Volume 49 (1-3): 224 – Jan 1, 1985
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1985 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0011-216x
eISSN
1568-5403
DOI
10.1163/156854085X00530
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

REVIEW R. SERENE, Crustacés Décapodes Brachyoures de l'Océan Indien occidental et de la Mer Rouge. Xanthoidea: Xanthidae et Trapeziidae. Avec un addendum par A. Crosnier: Car- piliidae et Menippidae. Faune tropicale, no. 24, 349 p., 246 fig., 48 pl. 1984, Editions ORSTOM, 70-74 route d'Aulnay, 93 140 Bondy, France. Price FF 300 (plus postage). This important work of the late R. Serene now published by the Office de la Recherche Scien- tifique et Technique Outre-Mer (ORSTOM) in the "Faune tropicale" series had its origin in the study of numerous xanthoid crabs from the Malagasy region collected by A. Crosnier at Nosy Be and by workers at the Station d'Endoume, at Tulear. Throughout a scientific career spent almost entirely in eastern Asia, Serene devoted a major part of his research to the Brachyura, producing a large number of publications on the xanthids. At the same time he assembled exten- sive records of the species in the Indo-West-Pacific region. In dealing with several collections from the western Indian Ocean, particularly that of A. J. Bruce from Tanzania and many samples borrowed from various museums, he enlarged the geographical coverage of his work to . the entire region. At the time of his death, in 1980, Serene had practically completed the study of the families Xanthidae and Trapeziidae, to which belong 225 species, subspecies and forms, in 59 genera. A list of references and synonyms, extensive though not exhaustive, is furnished for each taxon. The list of material examined includes the sex and the dimensions of the specimens. An 'Obser- vations' section deals with the distribution and, where appropriate, the morphological characteristics and affinities of each taxon, with critical remarks on the earlier references. As a general rule only new taxa are defined or described (3 subfamilies, 6 genera, 8 species) but the keys provide very detailed diagnoses of the genera and species both in French and English, and, at the specific level, these include all of the Indo-West Pacific forms (362 species). These keys will doubtless appear to be subject to criticism, and Serene himself felt them to be imperfect in the case of some inadequately described species of which he had not seen specimens. They nevertheless usually lead to a correct identification and, in all cases, direct the user towards such an identification. The illustrations are numerous and of high quality. The male first pleopods are almost always figured, either for the first time, or after earlier publications. The photographic coverage is very extensive; all of the species except four are represented. The bibliography (464 references) is without doubt the most extensive which has been publish- ed for the xanthid fauna of the Indo-West-Pacific. The manuscript left by Serene was a first draft and the illustrations were incomplete. Great credit is due to A. Crosnier for having verified and corrected the manuscript and filling the gaps. He has also added to the value of the work in presenting, in an addendum, the 22 species belong- ing to the families Carpiliidae and Menippidae. Serene's work, published in an impeccable manner, and in a format which does justice to his excellent illustrations, is now the basis for all research on the xanthoid crabs of the Indo-West- Pacific region. JACQUES FOREST

Journal

Crustaceana – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1985

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