NICJEA. 45 



A MPniP ODA . ORCHESTHD.^. 



SALT J TORI A. 



Genus— NICEA, Nicolet. 



NrcEA, Nicolet in Gay's Chili, vol. iii. p. 237, 1849. 



CxALANTHis, Spence Bate, Brit. Assoc. Report, 1855, p. 57 ; Ann. Nat. 

 Hist. 1857. 



Generic character. — Antennee small, subequal ; botli pairs of 

 gnathopoda subchelate. Coxae of the third pair of pereiopoda 

 much shorter than the preceding. Telson deeply cleft. 



The antennae are small and slender, being scarcely one- 

 fourth the lengtli of the animal, and the superior are 

 almost as long as the inferior. The mandibles are longer 

 than deep : they are furnished with a secondary incisive 

 plate ; and a tubercle marks the position of the absent 

 appendage. The foot-jaws have squamous plates arising 

 from the second and third joints, which terminate in 

 sharp stiff hairs, or spines. The first two pairs of 

 legs are formed upon the same type, and are subchelate. 

 The first four pairs of legs have the squamiform basal 

 joint as deep as the body, the fifth much shorter. The 

 three posterior pairs of legs are nearly equal in length. 

 The middle tail-piece is deeply cleft or divided. 



This genus differs from Allorchestes in the approximate 

 length of the antennae, which appears to be attributable 

 rather to the shortness of the inferior than the length of 

 the superior, and also in the middle tail-piece being 

 divided. 



The genus Hyale, of Rathke, seems to approach near 

 to this, the only distinction being in the last pair of 



