362 



BULLETIN 97, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Chelipeds subequal, almost unarmed in the adult male; carpal 

 spinules few and inconspicuous; chelae of moderate size, and fingers 

 little gaping, as in riiricola. 



Legs broad, very rough; merus joints strongly serrulate above; 

 propodal joints not much longer (on the upper edge) than their 

 width ; dactyli with six rows of spines. 



Color. — Greeff says: The color of the carapace in most of these 

 crabs is a deep violet, but in some cases dark red; the sides are al- 

 ways violet, the middle grayish-yellow. Chelae violet and also the 

 bases of the legs; these become lighter toward the extremity, the 

 dactyls being reddish-yellow with yellow 

 spines. The color, however, varies in different 

 individuals. 



Measurements. — Male (14869), length of 

 carapace 69.5, width of same 94.2 mm. 



Habitat. — Greeff says of the occurrence of 

 (r. lagostoma at the islands of St. Thomas 

 and Rolas, West Africa : 



From the forests of the coast region, their ordi- 

 nary places of abode, they undertake excursions to- 

 ward tlie interior of tlie islands and into the moun- 

 tains. Here one meets with them in tlie open mucli 

 more rarely than in the lowlands, but they occur also 

 in holes in the earth, under stones, damp foliage, and 

 rotten trees. They are without doubt very adept at 

 climbing, as tliey were occasionally seen sitting high 

 up in the trees. 



Range. — Trinidad, West Indies ; Fernando de Noronha, Brazil. 



Also recorded from Australasia ; Mauritius ; Madagascar ; ^ South 

 and West Africa, including Ascension Island, South Trinidad Island, 

 South Atlantic Ocean (Baylis), and from Bermuda with doubt. The 

 writer has examined a subfossil specimen of a movable finger from 

 the Bermudas. 



Material examined. — 



Trinidad, West Indies ; Ensign Roger Welles, Jr., U. S. N. ; 1 male 

 (17603). 



Fernando de Noronha, Brazil; 1876-1877; R. Rathbun, Hartt Ex- 

 plorations; 2 males, 2 females (40574). 



Ascension Island; March 21, 1890; W. H. Brown, U. S. Eclipse 

 Exped. to Africa; 1 male (14869). 



Genus GECARCOIDEA Milne Edwards. 



Ocearcinns de Haan, Fauna Japon., Crust., p. 30, 1835, pi. C. Not Gecar- 

 cinus Leach, 1814. 



Fig. 165. — GECAttciNos 



LAGOSTOMA, ABDOMEN OF 

 MALE (14869), NATURAL 

 SIZE. 



> Caiman (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lomlon, 1909, p. 710) says that there is no trustworthy 

 evidence for the occurrence of O. lagostoma outside the Atlantic area. 



