172 Bulletin Vanderhilt Marine Museum, Yol. Y 



Sandwich Islands, (Dana, Randall, Rathbun) ; Palmyra Island, (Ed- 

 mondson) ; Upolu, Samoa, (Pesta) ; Darwin Bay, Galapagos Archi- 

 pelago, (Boone) ; Acapulco, Mexico, (Faxon) ; Pearl Islands, Bay of 

 Panama, (S. I. Smith; Faxon; A. M. Edwards; Boone) ; Peru, (Rath- 

 bun) ; Colon, Panama, (Finnegan) ; Oceania, (A. M. Edwards) ; Reefs 

 at Grand Port, reefs at Chaland and Port Louis, Mauritius, (Bou- 

 vier) ; Seychelles Islands, 4 to 12 fms., (Miers) ; Praslin, Salomon and 

 Egmont, Seychelles, Coetivy, (Rathbun) ; New Caledonia, (A. M. Ed- 

 wards; de Man) ; Zanzibar, (Hilgendorf) ; South Africa, (Stebbing) ; 

 Cape of Good Hope, (Macleay). 



Material examined : Two ovigerous and one young female and one 

 male taken in coral at Teviatoa Reef, Raiatea Island, Society Islands, 

 August 21, 1931. Two males, four females (one ovigerous), taken on 

 Venus Point Reef, Tahiti, Society Islands, August 15, 1931. One small 

 female, Muller's Reef, Bora Bora Island, Society Islands, August 24, 

 1931. One male, one large ovigerous female, from coral at Anaho Bay, 

 Nuka Hiva Island, Marquesas Islands, August 10, 1931. One male, 

 from coral at Temukus Roads, Dutch East Indies, October 25, 1931. 

 Two specimens from Temukus Roads, Bali, Oct. 25, 1931. 



Color: The living crab has a highly polished shining surface of 

 bright orange red, with brownish black eyes and wood brown fingers. 



Diagnostic characters: The very slight and not absolutely con- 

 stant small characters that differentiate this subspecies from T. cymo- 

 doce are : 



(a) The frontal emargination is less prominent and the four fron- 

 tal and two preorbital teeth are much shallower as are their separating 

 incisions. The tooth at the inferior inner orbital angle is frequently, 

 but not always less acuminate and less conspicuous. 



(b) The postorbital angle and the epibranchial spine are usually 

 much less acuminate in adults. However some large adults possessing 

 the shallow frontal margin typical of ferruginea also have the very 

 acuminate postorbital spine and epibranchial spines typical of cymo- 

 doce. 



Is it not quite probable that such variation in the degree of spine is 

 due to ecdysis or to the age of the carapace ? It is well known, that in 

 species studied, the old blunt spines or nodules of a discarded carapace 

 are nearly always replaced by acuminate spines in the new carapace. 

 Then too the health of the individual crab and food supply and en- 

 vironment are important factors. 



