THE GENUS PANOPEUS. 

 James E. Benedict and Mary J. Rathbun. 



Department of Marine Invertebrates. 

 (With Plates xix-xxiv.) 



This paper is based upou the study of twenty-four species of Pano- 

 peus, specimeus of all of which have been examiued by the authors. 

 Fourteen other species and one variety, described by various writers, 

 have not been seen by us; nevertheless, we give the synonymy and 

 short descriptious. The material examined is contained chietly in tbe 

 National Museum, and has been derived from the following sources : 

 The large collections made by Mr. Henry Hemphill on the coast of 

 Florida from 1883 to 1885; the collections of the U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion from the coasts of the Eastern States from 1875 to date, including 

 those made in the investigation of the oyster grounds of Long Island 

 "Sound ; the Fish Commission collections made in the net-work of riv'ers 

 and creeks of the coast of South Carolina during the past season, in the 

 West Indian region in 1884, and in the Gulf of California; the smaller 

 collections made by Dr. Edward Palmer, Lieut. J. F. Moser, U. S. Navy, 

 Dr. D. S. Jordan, Mr. W. H. Dall, Mr. Silas Stearns, and Mr. S. T. 

 Walker, on the Florida coast; by Commander E. D. Evans, TJ. S. Navy, 

 in Chesapeake Bay; by Mr. W. Nye, jr., in Buzzard's Bay ; by Mr. W. 

 M. Gabb, in San Domingo ; by Mr. L. Belding, in the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia; by Mr. E. Eathbun, on the coast of Brazil, in 1875-'76; by 

 Mr. G. Brown Goode, in Bermuda, 187o-'77. Through the courtesy 

 of Prof. A. E. Verrill, the collection of Panopeus in the Peabody 

 Museum of Yale University, was placed at our service, and yielded 

 three species additional to those represented in the National Museum 

 series. 



We do not agree with Prof. A. Milne Edwards in his separation of the 

 genns into Panopeus and Uurypanopeus, for in accepting his classifica- 

 tion depressus would be placed with forms having a lobate division of 

 the antero-lateral margin ; crenatus and transversus, with very convex 

 carapaces, would be placed with those most flattened ; and crenatus 

 alone of Eurypanopeus would possess the character of the exposed 

 seventh segment of the male sternum, and the sternal canal for the 

 verges. Nor can we agree with Stimpsou in separating Eiirytinm from 



[Proceedings National Museum, Vol. XIV— Xo. 858.] 



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