Genus Callinectes. 581 



De Geer and Bosc. Tho pcla<^icus described by these two 

 latter authors, and by Say, (which latter is the Lvpa Sayi 

 of Gibbes,) he puts as synonymes of his P. diacarithus. 

 I think it is perfectly evident that his intention was to 

 change the name pelag-icits, as being preoccupied by Fa- 

 bricius for another species, and that his name P. diacan- 

 thiis must therefore apply to the pelag-icus of Bosc, De 

 Geer, and Say, which, as is well known, belongs to the 

 genus Nephinus. It does not alter the case, that La- 

 treille in his description mixed up several species, and 

 evidently included the C. hastatus. 



Milne-Edwards following Latreille, describes one or 

 more species under the name of Lvpa dicantha, but it is 

 impossible to say to which of our species his description 

 applies, as he gives no character by which one can recog- 

 nize it. Nor are we aided any by the synonymes which 

 he quotes. He quotes the " Crabe de I'Ocdan " of De 

 Geer, the P. pelag-icus of Bosc, and the P. diacanthus of 

 Latr., (which, as I have shown, are synonymous with the 

 L. pelagica of Say ;) the Portunus hastdtus of Fabr., which 

 is probably the Achelous spinimanus ; and finally the Lvpa 

 haslata of Say. 



Subsequent authors have mentioned our species of Cal- 

 linectes without critically examining the work of their pre- 

 decessors, and have spoken almost indiscriminately of L. 

 diacantha and L. hastata — often regarding them as synon- 

 ymous. Gibbes, in his Catalogue of the Carcinological 

 Collections of the United States, speaks of only one spe- 

 cies as inhabiting our coast, though he evidently noticed 

 some differences, as he says, " In the specimens from 

 Charleston harbor and northwards, the middle spines of 

 the front are obsolete, but distinct in those from Key 

 West." 



Dana in his " Crustacea of the United States Exploring 

 Expedition," describes a species of Callinectes from Rio 



