OCR Text |
Show 1877.] FROM DUKE-OF-YORK ISLAND. 137 which the lateral margin of the carapace is 3-toothed, and is distinguished by the peculiar convexity of the hepatic regions, and the granulation of the front part of the carapace, and the anterior legs. The ambulatory legs are long and slender, the last joint much shorter than the preceding. The specimen described by Hess was from Sydney, N e w South Wales; and specimens are in the British-Museum collection from the Fiji Islands (Nairai) and Eastern seas. I subjoin the description of a species in the British-Museum collection1. SESARMA (HOLOMETOPUS) AUBRYI. Sesarma (Holometopus) aubryi, A. M.-Edw. Nouv. Archiv. Mus. Hist. Nat. Bulletin, v. p. 29 (1869) ; ix. p. 307, pl. xvi. fig. 3 (1873). Six specimens, four males and two females, of which one bears a considerable quantity of ova, were collected. They agree in all particulars with A. Milne-Edwards's description of the species, based upon specimens collected at N e w Caledonia, except that in the figure of the abdomen, probably that of a male, the sides are represented nearly straight, and the terminal joint as broad at base as the preceding; whereas in the specimens from Duke-of-York Island (as is usual in Sesarma and the allied genera) the terminal abdominal joint is much smaller than the preceding at its base. In the Sesarma (Pachysoma) hcematocheir of De Haan (Faun. Japon. Crust, p. 62, pl. vii. fig. 4 ), upon which Milne-Edwards founded the genus Holometopus, the front is broader in proportion to its depth, the abdomen has the sides more decidedly concave, and the terminal joint longer; the differences between the two species, however, are very slight, and may depend upon the age of the specimen. CARDISOMA CARNIFEX. Cancer carnifex, Herbst, Naturg. Krabben u, Krebse, i. p. 163, pl. xii. fig. 1, o" (1796). 1 S E S A R M A I\ENIOLATA. Sesarma tcsniolata, White, List Crust. Brit. Mus. p. 38 (1847), sine descr. Carapace quadrate and very convex, the groove defining the gastric region deep, the lateral margins with two prominent teeth (including the external orbital tooth). Front nearly vertically deflexed, the anterior margin sinuated, the median sinus wide ; postfrontal lobes four, not very abrupt; carapace behind the lobes slightly granulated. Anterior legs robust; arm with a very strong tooth near the distal extremity of its upper margin; wrist closely covered with granules or small tubercles, each of which is itself crenulated ; hand granulated externally, and with a strong granulated ridge on its inner surface; upper margin with a longitudinal, comb-like, closely pectinated ridge; mobile finger with a longitudinal ridge on its upper surface marked with about sixty transverse strias. Ambulatory legs compressed and slightly hairy. Abdomen of male with the last joint not half the width of the preceding. Length and breadth of carapace about If inch. Hab. Philippine Islands (Cuming, coll. Brit. Mus.). This species is allied to 8. tetragona, Fabr., but is distinguished from it by tbe curious longitudinal oomb-like ridge on the upper margin of the hand and the • ransversely striated ridge on the mobile finger. |