NO. 4 SCHMITT : STOMATOPODS 205 



raptorial dactyli of small specimens are relatively much more inflated at 

 the base than those of larger specimens ; also in these small specimens there 

 is a greater curvature to the thinner distal part of the dactyl which ends 

 in the terminal spine or tooth. The chelae of the 5th pair of legs are 

 roughly 34 the size of the 4th pair, the 3rd pair perhaps % the size of 

 the 4th pair. 



The first free (5th) thoracic somite is little more than a somewhat 

 flattened ring without lateral projections and a smooth dorsal plate. The 

 lateral margins of the smooth and shining dorsa of the 6th, 7th, and 8th 

 thoracic somites are broadly rounded and nonprojecting, stopping short 

 of the articulation of the leg with the somite. 



The first 4 abdominal somites are smooth and unarmed ; the 5th like- 

 wise, except for several small spinules on the posterior margin not far re- 

 moved from the posterolateral angle ; there are 4 more or less equidistant 

 spinules on the left side of the posterior margin of the somite and 6 on the 

 right. These spinules on the right side might be described as 4 more or less 

 equidistant spinules, of which the first and second of the series, counting 

 from the right, are twinned, thus making it possible to account for 6 spi- 

 nules on the right side. The number of spinules present laterally on the 

 posterior margin of the 5th abdominal somite is less in small than in large 

 specimens, while in very small individuals they may be lacking altogether. 



The entire dorsal surface of the 6th abdominal somite and telson is 

 thickly beset with slender spines; a "comb" of small spines arms the ante- 

 rior margin of the somite. The spines forming the armature of this somite 

 increase in length from before backward, those of the posterior margin 

 being the longest. Slightly less than the dorsal median third of the somite 

 is thickened and raised a bit above the general surface of the somite (of 

 course, beneath its spiny armature) ; this slightly elevated area is nar- 

 rower behind than before; the lateral margin of the somite is raised and 

 thickened ; at its mid-point the thickened margin forms an angle or blunt 

 tooth, while just anterior to and above the posterolateral angle of the 

 somite the margin runs out into a strong curved spine. A few of the spines 

 arming the somite are twinned, but there are none that can be described 

 as stellate. 



The telson beneath the spines is about % as long as wide; it is very 

 convex and very spinous. The spines are arranged, more or less alternat- 

 ingly, in longitudinal rows ; there is a median row of spines corresponding, 

 I should say, to the median carina of most stomatopods ; the last or most 

 posterior of this median row of spines arises from beneath the posterior 



