18 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 227 



Lepidonotus sublevis Verrill, 1873a 



Figure 3e 



Lepidonotus sublevis Verrill and Smith, 1874, pp. 26, 38, 103, 116, 128, 287, pi. 10, 

 fig. 42.— Verrill, 1881, p. 300, pi. 4, fig. 2, pi. 6, fig. 3.— Sumner, Osburn, and 

 Cole, 1913, p. 618.— Ilartman, 1942b, p. 22, figs. 7-12; 1945, p. 10; 1951, 

 p. 17.— Hedgpeth, 1950, p. 75.— Behre, 1950, p. 11.— Pratt, 1951, p. 328. 



Lepidonotus variabilis Treadwell, in Cowles, 1930, p. 341. — Not L. variabilis 

 Webster, 1879. 



Lepidonotus squamatus Treadwell, in Cowles, 1930, p. 341. — Not L. squamatus 

 (Linn6, 1758). 



Description. — Length up to 34 mm., width up to 10 mm. Elytral 

 sm-face with scattered, widely spaced, conical microtubercles of nearly 

 uniform size, appearing nearly smooth compared with L. squamatus. 

 Color: elytra mottled ^\dth grayish, greenish, or reddish brown. 



Biology. — The species appears to be rather rare, compared with 

 L. squamatus, due in part perhaps to its commensalistic habits where 

 it escapes notice. It is found living commensally in snail shells oc- 

 cupied by hermit crabs, as Pagurus pollicaris Say, the polynoids oc- 

 cupying the columella as well as the whorls of the shells (found by 

 brealdng the shells). In the Gulf of Mexico, it was found in old 

 shells and on the lower surface of the sea pansy, Renilla mulleri 

 KoUiker (Hedgpeth, 1950). It is found intertidally among oyster 

 clumps and under stones. It is dredged on various types of bottoms, 

 especially shelly. 



Material examined. — Massachusetts (di-edged in the hole, Woods 

 Hole, in gastropod shells with hermit crabs, Pagurus pollicaris Say; 

 Muskeget Channel, Mutton Shoal Buoy, 7-20 fathoms; Nobska, 

 Woods Hole; Nantucket Sound, 10 fathoms), Rhode Island (Sakonnet, 

 in shells of moon-snail and whelk; Greenwich Bay, summers 1951-52, 

 A. D. Sticloiey), Delaware (Delaware Bay, 3 fathoms, with Pagurus 

 pollicaris), Marjdand (Chesapeake Bay, Fish Hawk Stations 8826, 

 8898, 8918, 8975, in 7.1 to 25.4 fathoms; Hardy's Hole, Public Land- 

 ing, Rattlesnake Island, Rum Harbor on Assateague Island, all in 

 Chincoteague Bay, S. McDowell), Virginia (near Robins Marsh, 

 Chincoteague Bay), North Carolina (Beaufort, with Pagurus polli- 

 caris, A. S. Pearse, 1946), South Carolina (Kiawah River, Mackays 

 Creek near Chechersee River, Fish Hawk, 1891), Georgia (Sapelo 

 Island), Florida (Seahorse Key, J. Taylor). 



Distribution. — A more southern species than L. squamatus, rang- 

 ing from Massachusetts (Woods Hole region) south to Florida and in 

 the Gulf of Mexico. Low water to 55 fathoms. 



