126 Bulletin Vanderbilt Marine Museum, Vol. VI 



(c) The proportionate lengths of the articles of the multi- 

 articulate carpus of the second pair of legs of gracilis are also dis- 

 tinctive from that figured by Bate for A. veloculis. 



Mr. Bate states that the carpus of the first legs of his specimen, 

 A. veloculis, is longer than that of the more northern European 

 A. nitescens Leach. Perhaps his species should retain full specific 

 rank. 



(d) The carpus of the first pair of legs of A. gracilis (female) 

 is only as long as its related distal border is wide, while that of 

 nitescens is stated by de Man to be twice as long as the distal 

 border. The merus of the cheliped is less than two-thirds as long 

 as the chela in the present species. 



Genus: ALPHEUS Fabricius 



Macrochirus Group, ss. Coutiere 

 Alpheus ventrosus H. M. Edwards 



Plate 33 



Type : Dr. Milne Edwards' type came from the coasts of the 

 He de France (Mauritius), and is deposited in the Paris Museum. 



Distribution : This species is rather widely distributed from 

 the Red Sea southward to Mauritius and eastward through Poly- 

 nesia to the South Central Pacific. It has been reliably recorded 

 from: Red Sea, Massaouah (Nobili) ; Mauritius (Edwards) ; Mal- 

 dive Archipelago, Murray Island Reef, Torres Straits (Coutiere) ; 

 Marquesas Islands (Boone) ; Palmyra Island (Edmondson) ; So- 

 ciety Islands (Boone). 



Material examined: Fifteen specimens from Venus Point 

 Reef, Tahiti, Society Islands, August 15, 1931. Seven specimens, 

 in coral, Teviatoa Reef, Raiatea Island, Society Islands, August 

 21, 1931. One specimen, in coral, Anaho Bay, Nuka Hiva Island, 

 Marquesas Islands, August 10, 1931. 



Technical description : The twenty-three specimens taken by 

 the "Alva" present a most interesting series of development, some 

 of the smallest specimens being about 8 mm. body length while 

 the longest one is 37 mm. long and various stages between 

 these two are represented. In the young specimens the ocu- 

 lar spines are frequently absent, or when present are only 

 short, minute points. In the larger adults these ocular spines in- 



