38 



The gills are pliyllobrancliise and are either 14i (or 16) in number on either 

 side. 



An epipodite of small size may be'present on the chelipedsbut not on any of 

 the legs. 



The sternal grooves of the female are variable : they may end at the level 

 of the genital openings, or at the bases of the first pair of legs, or at the bases 

 of the chehpeds. 



This family is represented in the seas of India by six genera. 



Key to the Indian Genera of Dromiidfe. 



I. Front much as in Dynomene, broadly triangular, dorsally grooved, notched 

 at tip. The sternal gi-ooves of the female do not quite reach to the 

 level of the genital openings on the antepenultimate pair of legs 

 II. Front usually cut into 3, sometimes into 2, teeth, rarely entire and 

 triangular. The sternal grooves of the female reach tlie level of tlie 

 bases of the 1st pair of true ambulatory legs : — 



1. Third pair of ambulatory legs, though shorter, not less stout 



than the first two pair, ending in a huge talon-like dactylus : 

 fourth (last) pair of legs short and very slender. Carapace 

 flat and pentagonal 



2. Third pair of ambulatory legs similar to, though sometimes 



shorter than, the fourth (last) pair. Carapace usually 

 convex : — 



a. Legs smooth, the meropodites not specially dilated 



b. Legs nodular, the meropodites not specially dilated ... 



c. Legs nodular ; the meropodites of the chelipeds and 



first or first two pair of ambulatory legs dilated, 



petal-like 

 III. Front deeply cut into two broad lobes, each of which is broadly bifid : the 

 divergent sternal tubercles of the female are at the level of the 

 chelipeds ... 



SPH-ERODnOMlA. 



CONCHOECETES. 



Dromia. 

 Cryptodeomia. 



Petalomera. 



Lasiodromia. 



Sph.ekodeojiia, Alcock. 



Sphs^rodromia, Alcock, Investigator Deep-Sea Brachyura, p. 16, and J. A. S. B., LXVIIl., pt. 2, 1899, p. 152. 



All parts except the tips of the dactyli and fingers tomentose. 



Carapace sub-globose. Front broadly triangular, grooved and notched in 

 the middle line as in Di/nomeitr. 



Palate well delimited from the epistome : efPerent branchial channels | well 

 defined. 



Chelipeds longer and stouter than the first two pairs of ambulatory legs, 

 which are not nodose. Last two pair of legs nearly similar to one another in 

 length and thickness, which are much less than those of the first two pair. 



