94 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 78 



Propodiis of gnathopod 1 triangidar with 4 or 5 grasping spines, 

 grasping margin without serrations but wdth numerous short spines; 

 dactylus not serrate. Propodus of gnathopod 2 with 1 large and 1 

 small proximal grasping spine, palm with numerous short spines and 

 few setae. 



Gills elliptical, gill on pereonite 2 smallest. 



Pereopods 3 and 4, 6-segmented, palm of propodus Avith 3 short 

 spines. Pereopod 5, 5-segmented, palm of propodus without spines, 

 dactylus approximately one-half propodus length, basis approximately 

 twice propodus length. Pereopods 6 and 7, 6-segmented with 2 proximal 

 grasping spines, 1 medial spine, and 1 distal spine. 



Abdomen of male with 2 pairs of biarticulate appendages and pair 

 of pyriform appendages, each pyriform appendage terminating in 

 seta; female with 2 pairs of biarticulate appendages, pair of lobes, 

 and anterior raised projection. 



Variation. — Included in description. 



Distribution. — Type-locahty: No locality given. 



Other records: Northern Norw^ay to the Mediterranean Sea; 

 British Islands; Azores; Canary Islands; Mediterranean and Black 

 Seas; tropical West Africa; South Africa; 25°26'30" N., 80^02' W.; 

 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 



New records: Numerous locahties from oft' Cape Hatteras, N.C. to 

 the Tortugas and the west coast of Florida to Panama City; St. 

 John, Virgin Islands; Cubagua and Margarita Islands, Venezuela; 

 Cape la Vela, Colombia. 



Remarks. — Gronovius (1760) described a caprellid which he called 

 "Sguilla acaudata pedibus quatuordecim ..." and included several 

 figures w^hich appear to be P. marina, Reibisch (1906) believed that 

 Gronovius' paper followed the rules of binomial nomenclature so he 

 chose to use the name P. acaudata. It appears that the term acaudata 

 was used in a descriptive rather than a nominal sense, so I have chosen 

 to use Slabber's name which meets the requirements for vaUdity. 



The genus Phtisica is presently com.posed of 3 species, P. antillensis 

 (Mayer, 1903), P. marina Slabber, 1769, and P. tuherculata (Guiler, 

 1954). In his description of P. tuherculata, then Proto tuherculata, 

 Guiler states that his species has gills on pereonites 3 and 4 and that 

 the abdomen bears 2 pairs of rudimentary appendages. These char- 

 acters are not consistent with the generic characteristics of Phtisica, 

 and it would seem that P. tuherculata should be placed in a different 

 genus, perhaps Paraproto; however, material of this Tasmanian 

 species is not available to me and such a change is not possible at 

 this time. 



Mayer (1903) gives a description of a Proto spec, stating that 

 it differs from P. marina because the first pair of abdominal append- 



