Chelipeds strong, granulate, and finely rugose; 

 merus with a well-developed tooth on upper mar- 

 gin ; carpus with a moderately deep groove paral- 

 lel to distal margin, an obtuse tooth at inner angle, 

 and with superior surface rough and more or less 

 tuberculate. Hands unequal and dissimilar; palm 

 usually with a fairly strong ridge above and indi- 

 cations of one on outer surface, both ridges con- 

 tinued on fingers; fingers strong, slightly hooked 

 at tips; dactyl of larger hand with strong tooth at 

 base. 



Measurements. — Carapace: length, '20 mm.; 

 width, 28 mm. 



Color. — Usually dark reddish brown or dark 

 gray, sometimes a uniform brownish yellow or 

 light buff; females usually darker than males and 

 often more or less spotted; fingers black or dark 

 brown at base, lighter at tips, color not continued 

 on palm. Often a light yellow band along anterior 

 border of carapace (Wass, 1955, in part). 



Habitat. — Ryan (1956) found this species in- 

 frequently in the lower portion of Chespeake Bay 

 in from 6- to 25-fathom water (Cowles, 1930, in 

 part) and in salinities ranging from 18 to 32°/ 00 . 

 McDermott and Flower (1953) found the species 

 only in the lower portion of Delaware Bay. 

 Rathbun (1930a) recorded the species from oyster 

 bars along the New England coast, and it is found 

 in shelly situations in the Carolinas (Lunz, 

 1937a). Though it occurs in places such as Beau- 

 fort Harbor, N.C., the species is apparently not 

 found primarily in shallow water near shore (see 

 also Wass, 1955). Near shore to 76 fathoms. 



Type locality. — Long Island Sound. 



Known range. — Vineyard Sound, Mass., to Port 

 Aransas, Tex. ; Bahamas ; Jamaica. 



Remarks. — Ovigerous females are known from 

 February to August in Florida, in July from 

 North Carolina and Virginia, and in October 

 from Texas. Ryan (1956) gave the range in cara- 

 pace width of mature males as 9.7 to 28.9 mm. and 

 of mature females as 8.4 to 20.2 mm. in Chesa- 

 peake Bay. Rathbun (1930a) considered speci- 

 mens from Chesapeake Bay southward to average 

 smaller than those from farther north. 



Chamberlain (1961) reported four zoeal stages 

 and one megalops stage in larval development of 

 the species but did not describe the stages in de- 

 tail. He found that larval development time 

 varied with temperature (17 days at 30° O, 28 at 



21° C.) and with food. Larvae matured most 

 rapidly when fed Artemia salina nauplii, matured 

 moderately well on Artemia and algae, but did 

 not transform at all when fed algae alone. 



Hexapanopeus paulensis Rathbun 



Figures 171, 183E 

 Hexapanopeus paulensis Rathbun, 1930a, p. 395, pi. 170, figs. 

 5-6. 



Recognition characters. — Carapace hexagonal, 

 approximately two-thirds to three-fourths as long 

 as wide, convex, regions fairly well marked, sur- 

 face with approximately 12 transverse granu- 

 lated lines on gastric, cardiac, and branchial re- 

 gions. First tooth of anterolateral border small; 

 second larger, broad, and shallow, with arcuate 

 outer margin ; third with nearly straight margin 

 directed forward and inward; fourth and fifth 

 acute and prominent; sometimes with small 

 denticle between first, second, or third pairs of 

 teeth. Front with edge thin, arcuate, with small, 

 median, V-shaped notch, and each half with small 

 lobule at outer end. Inner suborbital angle large; 

 a raised line of granules on subhepatic region. 



Chelipeds with carpus and upper part- of palm 

 roughened; carpus with approximately 15 tu- 

 bercles above, an internal tooth, and below it a 

 small tooth or denticle, distal groove deep. Hand 

 with a superior groove and another on outer sur- 

 face below upper edge, ridges bordering groove 

 with low tubercles; fingers deeply grooved, dark 

 or horn colored, color continued somewhat on 

 palm, ending in an oblique line; tips light. 



Figure 171. — Hexapanopeus paulensis Rathbun. A, ani- 

 mal in dorsal view ; B, large chela in frontal view ; 5 

 mm. indicated. 



MARINE DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OF THE CAROLINAS 



189 



