PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 108 Washington : 1958 No. 3403 



RHIZOCEPHALA OF THE FAMILY PELTOGASTRIDAE PARA- 

 SITIC ON WEST INDIAN SPECIES OF GALATHEIDAE 



By Edward G. Reinhard ^ 



Of the 12 genera of Rhizocephala that make up the family Pelto- 

 gastridae as cmTently understood, onl}^ Galatheascus and Tortugaster 

 contain species that parasitize anomuran Crustacea of the family 

 Galatheidae. Members of the other genera occur on Pagm-idae. 



In a collection of parasitized galatheids belonging to the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) , Harvard University, that the author, 

 through the courtesy of Dr. Elisabeth Deichmann, had the privilege 

 of studying, some remarkable new representatives of Peltogastridae 

 were encountered. The specimens, obtained off the north coast of 

 Cuba by the Atlantis expeditions to the West Indies in 1938 and 1939, 

 comprise two new species of a new genus that are described in this 

 paper. The Atlantis material also includes Galatheascus minutus 

 Boschma, hitherto unreported from American waters, and Tortugaster 

 fistulatus Reinhard. 



An inspection of some of the Galatheidae in the U. S. National 

 Museum brought to light additional examples of one of the new species 

 and of Galatheascus minutus. Moreover, two parasitized specimens 



' A posthumous paper. At the time of his death, Jan. 29, 1958, Dr. Reinhard was with the Department 

 of Biology, The Cathohc University of America, Washington, D. C. 



468793—58 295 



