86 Bulletin, Vanderlilt Marine Museum, Vol. II 



Subfamily: Majinae. 



Genus : PITHO Bell. 

 Pitho aculeata (Gibbes). 



Plate 25, figs. A and B. 



Type: Gibbes' type material came from Key West, Fla., and 

 "Florida" and is said to be no longer extant. 



Distribution: Bahamas, southern Florida, throughout the "West 

 Indies and along the South American coast as far down as Rio de 

 Janeiro, Brazil. 



Material examined: One specimen from Cardenas, Cuba, March, 

 1928, collected by the ''Ara," William K. Vanderbilt, commanding. 



Technical description: Carapace slightly longer than wide, 

 frontal region wide, rostrum short, bifid ; preorbital angle prominent, 

 tooth-like, a decided, closed orbital sulcus; the postorbital angle a 

 large, triangular tooth. There are five teeth on the anterolateral mar- 

 gin; the first is curved, rather hook-like, the second and third are 

 entirely fused basally, the apices curved similar to that of the first; 

 the fourth and fifth teeth are very small, the fifth being sometimes no 

 more than a tubercle. The dorsal surface of the carapace is tubercu- 

 lous, more so in the young than in the older specimens, which are 

 sometimes nearly smooth. The basal antennal article is wide, the free 

 outer anterior margin denticulate ; there is a deep groove between this 

 crest and the frontal border and a second groove on the carapace 

 parallel to the antennal groove. The first movable antennal article 

 has a produced outer lateral lobe. 



As shown in the plate, the chelipeds of the old males are enormously 

 larger than those of the females and young male, the latter resembling 

 the female chelae. The old males have the chelipeds about one and 

 one-half times as long as the body ; the merus angulate, usually with 

 three lower tubercles on the upper margin ; the carpus is marked with 

 a longitudinal crest; the propodus is laterally compressed, smooth; 

 the fingers are widely gaping the distal three-fourths, with a large 

 basal tooth on the dactyl, the finger-tips meeting. The young males 

 and females have the chelae weak, the fingers evenly dentate, meeting. 



Color: Variable patterns of mottled green and creamy flakes. In 

 some living specimens the green is a deep bottle green, in others it is 

 almost entirely replaced by a brownish olivaceous, in others, yellow- 

 ish predominates. 



