Chelipeds strong, heavy, finely plicate, nearly 

 smooth in old individuals; hand as long as or 

 longer than carapace, outer margin fringed with 

 long hairs except in old individuals; fingers short, 

 curved, and bent ; proximal inner angle of carpus 

 and distal inner angle of merus produced, form- 

 ing lobes, both articles with scattered hairs near 

 dorsolateral border, posterodistal angle of carpus 

 ending in a spine. First three pairs of walking 

 legs normal, with scattered hairs; last pair re- 

 duced and carried above others. 



Telson composed of seven elements. 



Measurements. — Carapace : males, length, 4 mm. 

 (Wass, 1955), width, 12 mm.; nonovigerous fe- 

 males, length, 8 mm., width, 8 mm. ; ovigerous fe- 

 males, length, 5 mm. (Haig, 1956) to 10 mm., 

 width, 10 mm. Specimens with length and width 

 equal are unusual. 



Color. — Ground color reddish or rusty brown; 

 covered on all dorsal surfaces and abdomen with 

 complicated irregular pattern of yellowish white, 

 yellow, and some bluish-white spots or longi- 

 tudinal stripes; stripes more prominent on rear 

 center part of carapace and on abdomen. Pattern 

 quite variable in shape and shade, some specimens 

 being predominantly light. 



Habitat. — This species is often taken in the 

 dredge in various parts of Beaufort Harbor, N.C., 

 and along the neighboring coast. It has also been 

 taken from among rocks of the jetties near Fort 

 Macon. It is often found in crevices in clusters of 

 oyster shells or as a commensal of the hermit crabs 

 Pagurus pollicaris or Petrochirus diogenes in the 

 shell of some gastropod. Hildebrand (1954) 

 found specimens attached to the decorator crab, 

 Stenocionops furcata. Shallow water to 48 

 fathoms; (390 fathoms(?), Schmitt, 1935a). 



Type localities. — Coast of Georgia and Florida. 



Known range. — Cape Hatteras, N.C., around 

 Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to Bahia Cale- 

 donia, Panama; through West Indies to Vene- 

 zuela and Surinam (Haig, 1956; Holthuis, 1959). 



Remarks. — This species is rather abundant off 

 the Carolinas and in the western Gulf of Mexico 

 ( Hildebrand, 1954, 1955). Ovigerous females are 

 known to occur from January to November in 

 various localities throughout the range. In North 

 Carolina, they are known in January and from 

 June to November. Brooks and Wilson (1883) 

 described the first zoeal stage of P. sayana. A long 



breeding season is indicated, as is true of a close 

 relative in the Pacific, Porcellana cancrisocialis. 

 Haig (1960) suggested that these forms may be 

 conspecific. 



Porcellana sigsbeiana Milne Edwards 



Figure 88 



Porcellana eigsbeiana Milne Edwards, 1880, p. 35. — Benedict, 

 1901, p. 137. — Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1923, p. 292, pi. 1, fig. 

 6. — Haig, 1956, p. 3i3 (rey.). 



Figure 88. — Porcellana sigsbeiana Milne Edwards. Ani- 

 mal in dorsal view, fifth leg only of left side shown, 5 

 mm. indicated. 



Recognition characters. — Carapace longer than 

 wide, evenly convex in posterior half, broadly 

 ridged in gastric region; lateral margins thin, 

 produced, and slightly upturned; surface faintly 

 rugose. Front strongly tridentate; rostrum ex- 

 ceeding narrower lateral teeth, irregularly pen- 

 tagonal with sides adjacent to base subparallel. 

 Orbit with outer angle produced into a broad, 

 oblique tooth ; eyes well developed. Anterolateral 



MARINE DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OF THE CAROLESTAS 



111 



