310 Memoirs of tJie Indian Museum. [Vol. V, 



From the records available it seems that C. pvopinqua is found only at the 

 northern end of the Bay of Bengal. In addition to samples from the Chilka Lake 

 and the Gangetic delta we have specimens from Chittagong, from Cuttack and, in 

 the vicinity of Puri, from Athara nullah and the Sar Lake. The individuals from the 

 last named locality and from Cuttack were obtained in water that remains perma- 

 nently fresh; but the species is more usually found in places subject to tidal in- 

 fluence. 



Family PASIPHAEIDAE. 

 Genus LEPTOCHELA, vStimpson. 



i860. Leptochela, Stimpson, Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia, XII, p. 42. 

 1896. Leptochela, Caullery, Ann. Univ. Lynn, XXVI, p. J72. 



The species of this genus found in the Chilka Lake is also common in suitable 

 localities on other parts of the Indian Coast and, as in L. carinata, Ortmann, from 

 the Atlantic coast of America shows marked sexual distinctions. In the female the 

 carapace bears a distinct median carina with an additional carina of considerable 

 length on either side of it, whereas in the male the median carina is less distinct and 

 the lateral carinae are wanting. This sexual distinction may be proper to several 

 other species of the genus, a fact which should be borne in mind when the character 

 is used for the discrimination of allied forms. 



The following five species of Leptochela have been described ; the first two from 

 the Atlantic coast of America, the remainder from the Indo-pacific: — 



1. Leptochela carinata, Ortmann': distinguished b}' the presence of four teeth 

 on the mid-dorsal carina of the fifth abdominal somite. 



2. Leptochela serratorh it a, Bate^: distinguished by the finely serrated or spinu- 

 lose orbital margin. 



3. Leptochela gracilis, Stimpson', the type species of the genus: distinguished 

 by the presence of a sharp tooth at the distal end of the carina on the fifth abdo- 

 minal somite. A fresh account of this species is badly needed. It is not certain that 

 the specimens recorded under this name by Bate ^ are correctly identified. 



4. Leptochela robusta, Stimpson, cannot be recognised with any certainty from 

 the original description.^ Bate's** subsequent account and figures are probably un- 

 rehable, but de Man's detailed description of a single male from Ternate^ will afford 

 a useful basis for future work. I am not convinced that the Hawaiian specimens 



' Ortmann, Decap. Schizop. Plnnkton-Exped., p. 41, pi. iv, fig. i (1893) and Rathbun, Bull. U.S. 

 Fish Comm. for 1900, XX, 2, p. 127 (1902). 



' Bate. Rep. 'Challenger' Macrura, p. 850, pi. cxxxix, fig. i (1888) and Rathbun, Bull. U.S. Fish 

 Comm. for 1900, XX, 2, p. 127 (1902). 



' .Stimpson, loc. cit. supra, p. 42. 



* Bate, Rep. ' Challenger' Macrura, p. 860, pi. cxxxix, fig. 2 (1888). 



^ Stimpson, loc. cit., supra, p. 43 (i860). 



^ Bate, Rep. ' Challenger' Macrura, p. 862, pi. cxxxix, figs. 3, 4 (1888). 



■^ de Maif, Abhandl. Senckenb. naturf. Ges. Frankfurt, XXV, p. 902. 



