748 



AUSTRALIAN CRUSTACEAN FAUNA, 



The spawning season is about August, September, October, and 

 November. I have not up till the present time been able to 

 gather sufficient data to enable me to sa}' positively when it 

 commences or terminates, but hope shortly to be in a position to 

 state this with certainty. As might be expected, the species is 

 of a predaceous, roving disposition, and is very widely dissemi- 

 nated. As in a great many other Brachyurans, so here the males 

 greatly preponderate. 



Masticatory Organs :— These consist of the usual six pairs. 



(1) Mandible (Fig. 1, F). This is a ver}^ powerful instrument 

 adapted for cutting only (not crushing, as in some); the anterior 

 edge being developed into a curved sharp blade-like prominence. 

 It is furnished with a 2-jointed palp, which is fringed with fine 

 sensory hairs. 



0^- 



Fig. 1 — Ne2}iunus 2^6lagicus. — Masticatory Organs. 



A, 3rd Maxillipede ; B, 2nd Maxillipede ; C, 1st Maxillipede ; D, 2nd 

 Maxilla ; E, lat Maxilla ; F, Mandible ; G, Hooked Seta, 

 (greatly enlarged) from Flabellum. 



Ell. Endopodite ; Ex. Exopodite ; R.Br. Rudimentary Branchia ; Br. 

 Branchiffi ; Sc. Seaphoguathite ; P. Mandibular Palp ; Fl. Flabellum. 



(2) Firt>t Maxilla (Fig. 1, E). This organ is thin, foliaceous, 

 and rather obscurely segmented. It is appai-ently the most 

 insigniticant of the organs of mastication, and is fringed with 

 setae of a more or less bristle-like nature. 



