part 1 garth: pacific oxyrhyncha 115 



ventral surface. Close to the margin of the last abdominal segment in 

 each female were two conspicuous dark circles, the two in the middle 

 being the larger. Fingers of chelipeds with scarlet bar at or near tip in 

 both sexes. 



Habitat: Of the 23 stations from which specimens were obtained, 

 four of which were shore stations, the substratum was rock in 9 in- 

 stances, sand in 7, and coralline in 4, with sandy mud and coral account- 

 ing for one station each. Crane {op. cit.) records muddy or shelly sand 

 with weed. 



Depth: Shore to 35 fathoms. 



Size and sex: 14 specimens from two stations in the vicinity of Puerto 

 San Carlos, Sonora, equally divided as to sex, show males ranging in 

 size from 7.8 to 19.9 mm, females from 9.5 to 17 mm, those from 14.5 

 to 17 mm bearing ova. Crane (op. cit.) records a 28 mm male. 



Breeding: Ovigerous females were encountered in March and early 

 April. 



Remarks: Podochela latimanus offers proof, if such be needed, that 

 the Gulf of California can and does support an endemic species of 

 Podochela along with one member of the genus, P. vestita, which ranges 

 southward to the Bay of Panama, another, P. lobifrons, which ranges 

 northward to middle California, and still another, P. hemphilli, which 

 ranges both north to California and south to Panama and beyond. At 

 first it was thought to represent merely a giant race of the widely ranging 

 species here designated as P. veleronis, with which it shares many com- 

 mon characters. Such a parallel is to be found in the case of Pyromaia 

 tuberculata (Lockington), of which Gulf of California specimens attain 

 remarkable size, due presumably to unusually favorable ecological con- 

 ditions. However, detailed comparison of the two revealed that the 

 longer rostrum of Podochela latimanus persists in even small specimens, a 

 male with a postrostral length of only 7.2 mm having a rostrum 3.8 

 mm long, while a 7.3 mm specimen of P. veleronis has a rostral length 

 of only 1.5 mm. The antennal flagellum of P. latimanus is also longer, 

 particularly the first movable segment, which in P. veleronis is short 

 and stout. When mature male specimens are compared, the 7.3 mm 

 specimen of P. veleronis shows an inflated manus with a suboval gape, 

 while to show the inflated palm with its elongate gape and three teeth 

 requires a specimen of P. latimanus of 23 mm or over. It was also ob- 

 served that females of P. veleronis of only 5 and 6 mm were commonly 

 ovigerous, while the smallest gravid female of P. latimanus measured 



