Ciin/rON.— Crustacea of the Kcrnyulcr hlanch. 555 



Actaeomorpha erosa Miers. 

 Actaeomorpha erosa Miers, Jour. Linn. Soc, Zool., 13, p. 1, pi. 14, 1883. 



Several specimens from Coral Bay, Sunday Island, and from Meyer 

 Island, on coral ; some dredged in 12 fathoms. 



These specimens agree minutely with Miers's description, drawn up from 

 a single specimen dredged in 7 fathoms in Port Curtis, Australia. Some of 

 the specimens have the dorsal surface variously marked with red, and this, 

 together with the granulated nature of the surface, gives them the appear- 

 ance of small pieces of coral. 



Xantho nudipes (Dana). 



Chlorodius nudipes Dana, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1852, p. 79, 1852 ; 

 and U.S. Expl. Exped., Crust., 1, p. 209, pi. 11, figs. 12 a-c, 1855. 

 Leptodius nudipes A. Milne-Edwards, Nouv. Archiv. Mus., 9, p. 225, 

 pi. 7, fig. 5, 1873 ; Miers, Cat. N.Z. Crust., p. 17, 1876 ; Filhol 

 Mission de I'ile Campbell, p. 374, 1885. Xantho {Leptodius) nudipes 

 Alcock, Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 67, p. 121, 1898. 



Numerous specimens from Coral Bay, Sunday Island ; Meyer Island, &c. 



It is only with considerable hesitation that I assign these specimens 

 to this species. In the rugose and wrinkled character of the hands of the 

 chelipeds, and in the general appearance of the carapace, the short legs 

 almost destitute of setae, &c., they appear to agree pretty closely with 

 the description and figures given by A. Milne-Edwards, except that he 

 describes the antero-lateral margins of the carapace as being divided into 

 10 or 12 teeth, grouped in 4 lobes. In my specimens the teeth are much 

 fewer in number, the two posterior ones being simple and of the usual 

 character, while anterior to these the lobes or teeth become somewhat in- 

 definite, so that the anterior border might be described as being divided 

 into 6 to 8 teeth. Alcock says, " The antero-lateral border is divided into 

 4 acute lobes or teeth, but each of the first 3 teeth have, at base, either 

 one or two (one on either side) small additional cusps, and the 4th tooth 

 is generally double, so that altogether there are from 8 to 11 teeth on the 

 antero-lateral margin." This would agree moderately well with my speci- 

 mens, except that in them none of the lobes or teeth are quite acute. On 

 the other hand, Alcock places the species under the subgenus Leptodius, 

 and specially mentions that " the fingers are typical spoons," and, so far 

 as one can judge from the figure, this appears to be the case with the speci- 

 mens figured by Dana. In my specimens the fingers are quite sharp at the 

 points, and this seems to be the case with those figured by A. Milne- 

 Edwards. Consequently, while I feel pretty confident that my specimens 

 must belong to the same species as those described by Milne-Edwards from 

 New Caledonia, I am doubtful if they are quite the same as those described 

 by Alcock. 



A'', nudipes and the allied species Chlorodius eudorus Milne-Edwards 

 are stated to occur in New Zealand on the authority of specimens in the 

 collections of the Paris Museum ; Filhol says that the specimens of X. 

 nudipes come from Cook Strait, and he considers that Chlorodius eudorus 

 should be looked upon as a variety of this species. I have seen no speci- 

 mens from New Zealand itself that could be referred to either of these 

 species. 



Xantho (Leptodius) euglyptus Alcock, from Galle and Mergui, and Xantho 

 (juinquedentatus Krauss, from South Africa, both seem to be closely similar 



