A. E. Verrill Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. 379 



forward. This appears to be a small species. The Bermuda speci- 

 mens taken in Castle Harbor, March and April, 1901, were all small; 

 in life the carapace was usually mottled with gray and yellowish 

 white, so as to imitate the color of the sand pretty closely. The 

 first pair of ambulatory legs in some were yellow, in others red; the 

 chelipeds and other legs had, in part, the same colors. Perhaps the 

 difference was sexual; both sexes were in the lot noted. 



The colors soon fade in alcohol or formol to uniform yellowish or 

 salmon, with a tinge of red on the tips of the chel*. The ratio of 

 length to breadth, less spines, is from 1 : 1.5 to 1 : 1.60. All our speci- 

 mens are small, but apparently about adult, as several carry eggs. 



Measurements of specimens. 



, Carapace - Front 



breadth br'dth bet. Chelae 



No. Sex length total spines orbits length height Locality 



4038, fig. 12 34 18 5.5 17 3.5 Bermuda 



4044 13 26 20 5.5 19 3.5 Bermuda 



4045o 2 eggs 13 25 19 5 17.5 3.5 Off Hatteras 



40456 ?eggs 12.5 25 19 5 16 4.25 Off Hatteras 



Our largest male has the carapace 16 mm long and 32 mm wide, includ- 

 ing the lateral spines, or 24 mm without the spines. 



One Bermuda specimen, taken in April (No. 4060) carried eggs. 

 Similar specimens were taken in a seine at Nonesuch I., Sept. 4, 1905, 

 by the party from the Field Mus. Nat. History (No. 158), one of 

 which carried a large mass of eggs, indicating sexual maturity, but 

 probably not full size. 



Specimens taken in 7 fathoms, off Cape Hatteras, by the " Alba- 

 tross," station 2288, Oct. 20, 1884, average a little larger. Three of 

 them (No. 4045, , b, c) carried large clusters of eggs ; these were 

 all 12 to I4 mm in length of carapace. 



It is not uncommon at Bermuda, in the shallow waters of sheltered 

 sandy bays. Our specimens were taken in March and April, mostly 

 in Hungry Bay and at " Waterloo," near Walsingham Bay, Castle 

 Harbor. 



Its known range is from the Antilles to Cape Hatteras. Off C. 

 Hatteras, 7-16 fathoms (Smith). 



It seems to me probable that 7V. ventralis A. M.-Edw. (op. cit., 

 fig. 3) is identical with this species, with which it agrees in nearly 

 all details. Miss Rathbun gives measurements of ventralis from 

 Porto Rico as follows : length of carapace, 15 mra ; total breadth, 30""" ; 

 breadth less spines, 23.7 mm . The proportions, therefore, are the same 

 as some of those in my table. 



TRANS. CONX. ACAD., VOL. XIII. 27 FEB., 1908. 



