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Transactions. 



been obtained from the stomachs of fish. I have seen specimens that were 

 dredged in Wellington Harbour (T. W. Kirk) ; two fine specimens from 

 Petone Beach, now in the collection of the Dominion Museum ; others ob- 

 tained during the " Nora Niven " expedition, in the stomach of a Dasyhatus 

 (Waite) ; two specimens from Kaikoura, in the stomach of an Alepisaurus 

 ierox (A. D. Goodall). It has also been recorded from the Auckland Islands 

 by Miers. 



Distribution. — Widely distributed in southern seas, having been recorded 

 from South America, South Africa, and Australia. 



Remarks. — The specimens examined agree closely with the brief diagnosis 

 given by Bigelow as quoted above. The median elevation on the rostrum is 

 hardly appreciable, and the carinae on the carapace are only very slightly 

 marked, especially in the smaller specimens. The submedian spines on the 

 telson have movable tips, as described by Bigelow, in the smaller specimens, 

 iiut in larger specimens the tips have become obsolete or been worn off. 

 The curved lines on the sides of the median carina of the telson are fairly 

 distinguishable, though the surface itself is quite smooth. 



My specimens agree also with the more detailed description given by 

 Bigelow, except that in smaller specimens the intermediate and lateral 

 carinae do not end in spines in the 

 four or five anterior abdominal seg- 

 ments ; ■' the 1 to 4 small spines half- 

 way between the median and inter- 

 mediate carinae " on the posterior 

 margin of the 5th segment of the ab- 

 domen appear to be constantly present. 

 In the characters of the telson and 

 in some other points this species ap- 

 pears to approach pretty closely to 

 Squilla lata Brooks from the Arafura 

 Sea (see fig. 1). 



Milne-Edwards, in the " Mission du 

 Cap Horn," considers S. gracilipes as 

 probably a variety of S. arniata, and 

 certainly, as he points out, the num- 

 ber of spines on the dactyls of the 

 raptorial limbs is subject to variation. 

 so that the possession of 10 in S. gra- 

 cilipes is not sufficient in itself to dis- 

 tinguish it from S. artnata ; but Miers describes S. gracilipes as having 

 26 denticles {i.e., 13 on each side) between the submedian marginal spines, 

 and about 18 on each side between the submedian and the first lateral 

 spines. In none of the adult specimens of S. armata that I have been able 

 to examine are there any denticles between the median fissure and the 

 submedian spine except in one instance where there are one or two small 

 traces of a denticle, and Bigelow has drawn attention to the same fact, 

 so that in this point there is a pretty considerable difference between 

 S. gracilipes and S. armata; and there are other points drawn attention 

 to by Miers which iiiivke it difficult to consider these two forms as specific- 

 ally identical. 



I have one small specimen, collected at Sumner, that is only 20 mm. in 

 length ; but since it has the submedian and lateral carinae faintly marked 

 on the posterior abdominal segments, and ending in spines on the 6th 



Fig 



-Squilla armata : Endopod of first 

 pleopod of male. 



