NO. 35P9 PORTUNID CRABS — STEPHENSON AND REES 21 



Miers' specimens appear identical to the largest of the present 

 specimens, being pubescent to the point of hirsiiteness. Ortmann 

 (1894) considered that G. danae and T. gracilipes were synonymous, 

 presumably working from Milne Edwards' (1873) diagnostic features. 



Forest (in Crosnier, 1962, p. 93) wondered whether T. gracilipes of 

 Edmondson (1954) was a different species because of its less prominent 

 front and because it had a different male abdomen. The form of 

 the abdomen of the larger male in the present collections greatly 

 resembles that figured by Edmondson (1954, fig. 26b). Edmondson, 

 however, shows a continuous ridge in the posterior part of the carapace; 

 possibly this is due to inaccurate draftsmanship. 



Crosnier's figure of a male pleopod (1962, fig. 153 bis d) is obviously 

 from an immatiu'e specimen. That of the larger male in the present 

 collection is short, curved, with a slightly swollen tip ending obliciuely. 

 Subterminally on the outer side, there are stout bristles, mostly in 

 pairs, with nine visible in profile view followed by thinner bristles; 

 a sparse row of spinules is also present. On the inner side, in profile 

 view, there are five elongate hook-shaped bristles followed by fonr 

 almost straight bristles. 



Edmondson has noted that Thalamonyx has been regarded variously 

 as a subgenus of Charybdis, a separate genus, or as part of the genus 

 Thalamita. Because of the increasing indefiniteness of the boundaries 

 of the genus Thalamita (see Stephenson and Rees, 1967a, pp. 59-61), 

 the present authors follow Stephenson and Hudson (1957) and regard 

 the present species as belonging to Thalamita. 



Distribution.— Madagascar, Andaman Is., New Caledonia, Tongo 

 Is., Hawaii. 



Thalamita spinifera Borradaile 



Thalamita exetastica var. B. spinifera Borradaile, 1902, p. 203. 



Thalamita spinifera Borradaile. — Rathbun, 1906, pp. 874-5. — Edmondson, 1951, 



p. 221; 1954, pp. 269-70, figs. 41a-d, 42a.— Crosnier, 1962, pp. 125-7, figs. 



210, 211, 214, 215, pi. 11 (fig. 1).— Stephenson and Rees, 1967, p. 93. 



Material examined.- — 1 male (18.5 mm), Sta. No. 262A. 

 Trawled, 79 m, sandy bottom. 



Distribution.^ — Malgache [Madagascar], Maldives, PhiHppines, 

 and Hawaii. 



Thalamita species 



This specimen could not be identified beyond the genus. 

 Material examined. — 1 yg. male (6 mm), Sta. No. 28A. 

 Trawled, 66 m. 



