DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OF THE WEST INDIES 159 



A medium-sized species, maximum carapace length in midline about 

 28 mm. 



Color in life. — Ground color light yellowish or bluish green 

 with higlily variable, bold, anastomosing, maroon pattern inter- 

 spersed with solitary spots of irregular and variable shapes. 



Eyestalks greenish with maroon markings. Third maxillipeds 

 orange tan. Chelipeds cream basally; merus becoming orange tan 

 distally, and bearing brown markings; carpus orange tan with trans- 

 verse brown bar; propodus tan; upper proximal articular knob and 

 articular membrane at base of dactyl bright orange, almost vermil- 

 ion; both fingers orange. Pereiopods from base through merus green- 

 ish with greenish brown markings; distal podomeres pale orange tan 

 with variable brown markings, but those on carpus and propodus 

 somewhat linearly arranged. Lower surface of proximal podomeres 

 cream to coral, those from carpus to dactyl orange tan. 



Material examined. — The Dominican collections contain 19 

 males (carapace lengths 6.0-13.0 mm) and 10 females (cl 5.7-14.3 

 mm). None of the males have juvenile gonopods. The larger females 

 have the abdomen fully formed, but it is triangular in those with a 

 carapace length of 9-10 mm. 



Ecological notes. — This agile little crab has been observed or 

 collected on Dominica only along rocky and cobble beaches, where 

 it ventures among the rocks high above the high-tide line and often 

 seeks shelter among litter and debris wedged between and under 

 the rocks. It does not shun wetter areas of the rocks and frequently 

 when individuals were pursued they would crawl rapidly into the 

 surf. It ventures several feet above the levels occupied by Petrolisthes 

 quadratus and Cyclograpsiis integer (see ecological discussion of 

 former). Below Tarou Cliffs (pi. 3b), a retaining wall has been con- 

 structed along the road, and in windy weather the splash from the 

 surf reaches the wall and often wets the macadam road. The base 

 of the retaining wall is often quite dry and frequently accumulations 

 of coconut husks, logs, and fronds of the coconut palm are wedged 

 against the wall. Seepage from the swampy area across the road 

 almost certainly passes through the fill, for earthworms were found 

 under one log that was wedged against the wall. Here among the 

 debris, Geograpsus lividus is abundant and lives some 6 to 8 feet from 

 the accumulation of rocks but never more than 12 to 15 feet away 

 from the surf. 



Distribution. — Bermudas and the Florida Keys to Estado de 

 Sao Paulo, Brazil (Bermudas, New Providence I., Cuba, Jamaica, 

 Puerto Rico, Isla de Vieques, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, Saba, 

 Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia I., Barbados, 

 Trinidad, Islas Los Roques, Curagao, Isla de Providencia) ; eastern 



