Chilton. — Notes on the Callianassidae of N.Z. 461 



Callianassa filholi, A. Milne - Edwards, Plate XVI, 

 figs. 1 to 5. 



CallicCnassa ■filholi, A. Milne-Edwards, Bull. Soc. PLilomathique 

 Paris, 7™^ ser., tome iii, p. 112 ; " Mission de I'lle Camp- 

 bell." p. 429 and p. 491 ; Index Famia3 N.Z., p. 253. 



This species was originally briefly described by A. Milne- 

 Edwards from specimens gathered by Filhol at Stewart Island. 

 I have seen several specimens, including one from the type 

 locality, that evidently belong to it, and I am therefore able to 

 give a somewhat fuller description than has hitherto been done. 

 In the " Mission de I'lle Campbell " Filhol gives only an abstract 

 of Milne-Edwards's original description, but adds figures of the 

 antennfe and the chelipeds. The ^^Callianassa, sp. ind.," men- 

 tioned by Mr. T. W. Kirk in the " Transactions of the New 

 Zealand Institute," vol. xi, page 401. but not described, probably 

 belongs to this same species, which is the only one of the genus 

 at present known from New Zealand. 



Callianassa ceramica, recently described by Messrs. Fulton 

 and Grant from Port Phillip and Western Port, Victoria,* is 

 evidently very closely related to the New Zealand species, and 

 may indeed ultimately prove to be identical with it. For the 

 sake of comparison I have therefore based the following descrip- 

 tion on theirs. 



Specific Diagnosis. — The cephalothorax is about one-fifth the 

 total length of the body, and is somewhat laterally compressed. 

 Rostral point short but acute ; the lateral angles between the 

 ocular peduncles and external antennae only faintly indicated. 

 A groove on the dorsal surface runs parallel with the front, 

 extends laterally as far as the base of the external antennae, 

 then joins the line on each side defining the branchial region. 

 This line extends to the posterior margin, and is joined about 

 midway by the cervical groove, the dorsal portion of which is 

 about one-fourth of the length of the cephalothorax from its 

 posterior margin. Cephalothorax otherwise smooth. 



Abdomen flattened dorso-ventrally towards posterior end, 

 1st segment narrow, the 2nd segment slightly longer than the 

 5th and 6th, which are about equal in length, and longer than 

 the others ; 1st segment with lateral margin free from setae, 

 2nd with a very few setae towards posterior end, 3rd, 4th, and 5th 

 with posterior portion of margin fringed with setae, and with a 

 tuft on the side nearer the anterior end of the margin ; 6th seg- 

 ment with a few very short setae on the margin. Dorsal surface 

 of all segments free from carinae or spines. 



* Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, 19 (n.s.), p. 12, plate v. 



