170 Transactions. — Zoology. 



and Grimothea grcgaria — as it is convenient still to call this 

 form, referred to Mwiida — are enormously abundant ; but 

 hermit crabs have not been met with at all freely. 



I have had the privilege — thanks to the kindness of Dr. 

 Benham and Captain Hutton — of examining all the species 

 belonging to this group of Crustacea which are preserved in 

 the Otago and Canterbury Museums, and Sir James Hector 

 has kindly sent me specimens from Wellington. I have also 

 to thank Mr. H. Suter, of Christchurch, for intrusting to me 

 all his specimens for examination. In all cases the small 

 amount of material available shows that hermit crabs and 

 their allies are not commonly met with. 



"With the increase of trawling-vessels it ought soon to be 

 possible to explore the coastal zone to a depth of 50 fathoms 

 or more, and this may disclose a number of forms which are 

 unknown at present. 



In the classification adopted I have followed Henderson 

 in the " Eeport of the Anomura collected by H.M.S. 'Chal- 

 lenger,'" 1888. I have not given the synonym where this 

 has already been given by Miers and Henderson, as their 

 works are readilv available. 



ANOMURA. 



DEO M IDEA. 



Fam. DEOMID^, Dana. 



Carapace subglobular. Legs of moderate size, cylindrical ; 

 4th and 5th pairs short and (especially the last) subdorsal in 

 position. Eyes capable of retraction into well-defined sockets. 

 The males have the vasa deferentia produced as tubular pro- 

 longations from the coxal joints of the 5th pair of legs. 



Genus Ceyptodkomia, Stimpson. 



Carapace convex, pubescent. Palate with a slight eleva- 

 tion on each side. Chelipedes with their apices calcareous. 

 All the legs are more or less nodose ; the last two pairs are 

 subchelate, the penultimate joint ending in a spiniform pro- 

 cess. 



Cryptodromia lateralis, Gray. Plate XX., figs. 1 and 2. 

 Miers, Cat. N.Z. Crust., p. 57, &c. 



This species, according to Henderson, ranges from Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand to the coasts of Japan. In Miers' s 

 catalogue it is described as from New Zealand (Coll. Brit. 

 Mus.), and Heller (Voy. of the " Novara ") obtained it at 

 Auckland. 



I have not met with it myself, nor do any specimens 

 appear to exist in any of the museums of the colony. I am 



