FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 3 



length of 60, width at base of lateral spines 109, 

 including lateral spines 135. Some others in ma- 

 terial studied approached this size. All such speci- 

 mens seen by me are from the Gulf of Mexico and 

 may represent parasitized individuals in which 

 the maturation process has been altered. 



Co/or.— Grayish, bluish, or brownish green of 

 varying shades and tints dorsally on carapace and 

 chelipeds; spines may have reddish tints, tuber- 

 cles at articulations of legs orange, and legs 

 varyingly blua.and white with traces of red or 

 brownish green. Males with propodi of chelae blue 

 on inner and outer surfaces, fingers blue on inner 

 and white on outer surfaces and tipped with red. 

 Mature females with orange fingers on chelae 

 tipped with purple. Underparts off-white with 

 tints of yellow and pink. Futch (1965) and Tais- 

 soun (1969) gave a good description of color; 

 De Kay { 1844), Milne Edwards and Bouvier ( 1900; 

 plate IV, Figure 5), Churchill (1919), and Pounds 

 (1961) published colored illustrations of the 

 species, and still others are scattered in popular 

 literature. 



Color variations other than those associated 

 with sexual dimorphism and molt cycle are 

 known. Albinos or partial albinos are in museum 

 collections and have been reported both in sys- 

 tematic literature and elsewhere (Gowanloch, 

 1952; Sims and Joyce, 1966). Haefner (1961) 

 reported an adult male lacking dorsal green col- 

 oration and bright blue and scarlet markings on 

 the legs. Instead, the upper surface of the carapace 

 was "robins egg blue" and the appendages were 

 paler than usual, but the abdomen and underparts 

 had normal color. A similar blue specimen was 

 reported elsewhere (Maryland Tidewater News, 

 1950). Haefner also pictured a bilateral gray and 

 brown colored specimen from the collection of L. 

 Eugene Cronin. Hopkins (1962, 1963) discussed 

 biochemistry of the sexual color dimorphism. 



Variation. — There are morphological varia- 

 tions in this species having far greater systematic 

 interest than size and color. Study of many speci- 

 mens from throughout the range of the species 

 bears out the conclusion of Chace and Hobbs 

 (1969) that extreme variants "are so different 

 from each other that they could easily be inter- 

 preted as distinct species," but there is "no point 

 of demarcation" — morphological, geographic, 

 bathymetric — between the "typical" rather 

 blunt-spined form predominating along the east 



coast of the United States and the acute-spined 

 form named C. sapidus acutidens by Rathbun 

 predominating from Florida southward. 



Rathbun (1896) characterized the "acutidens" 

 form (paraphrasing) as being wider than the 

 "typical" with all prominences more strongly 

 marked, areolations separated by deeper depres- 

 sions, granules more raised, gastric ridges 

 stronger and more sinuous, a transverse granu- 

 late ridge on each cardiac lobe, frontal teeth 

 narrower and more acute and bearing two small 

 intervening teeth, anterolateral teeth broad at 

 base and narrowing abruptly to long acuminate 

 tips with margins granulate, lateral spines longer 

 than in "typical" specimens of equal size, and 

 tidges of chelipeds quite prominent and strongly 

 granulate. Figures 16 and 17 show two extremes, 

 the first a mature young male of typical form, and 

 the second a mature male of "acutidens" form. 



I thought for a time that a species distributed 

 through approximately 85° of latitude from North 

 Temperate through Tropic to South Temperate 

 Zones might reflect responses to temperature in 

 spination or other characters, "typicaF ' structure 

 being prevalent in the temperate zones and sharp 

 spination in the tropics, the differences thereby 

 justifying nomenclatural recognition. There is 

 weak but inconsistent evidence for this pattern. 

 Though "acutidens" individuals are uncommon 

 outside the tropics, intermediates occur every- 

 where to some degree, and some "typical" indi- 

 viduals occur in the tropics. Genetic pooling or 

 environmental response reflected in morphology 

 seems poorly structured. 



For example: Occasional specimens found as far 

 north as Woods Hole, Mass., (USNM 4946, 40723, 

 43178) are nearly as sharp spined as some Carib- 

 bean material. Churchill (1919, plates 53-54) 

 pictured individuals from Chesapeake Bay that 

 approach the "acutidens" form. In the collection 

 of the USNM is a huge male from Wye River, Md., 

 (92452) that has acuminate anterolateral and 

 suborbital teeth, though not so attenuated as in 

 Florida material; two carapaces from Virginia 

 (76184) have such acute spines that Rathbun 

 identified them as the "acutidens" form; and a 

 huge lot (60601) from Hatteras, N.C., composed of 

 mainly "typical" blunt-spined individuals 

 characteristic of eastern United States shows 

 variation in frontal teeth from no submesial 

 frontals to rudimentary evidence for their pres- 

 ence. In Maryland, few specimens examined show 

 easily identifiable submesial teeth on the inner 



780 



