380 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. XII, 



that in the Indian form the rostrum is narrower and distinctly- 

 longer, reaching almost to the end of the eyes {cf. text-figs, ya, b) 

 and that the sixth abdominal somite is less distinctly grooved in- 

 feriorly. There is the closest resemblance between the two groups 

 of specimens in the form of the subchela and antennal scale. 



The characters yielded by the rostrum and last abdominal 

 somite may ultimately afford grounds for the recognition of the 

 Indian form as a distinct subspecies, but in my opinion are insuffi- 

 cient for specific distinction. 



A number of forms very closely allied to the common European 

 species have been recorded from Japan; Miss Rathbun ', indeed, 

 has reported the presence of C. crangon itself at Rikuoku (Rikuchu) 

 and Hokkaido. Balss', the most recent author to discuss the 

 Japanese forms, notes that Brashnikow ■'' (writin:; in Russian) has 

 established the fact that C. crangon crangon does not occur in 



A A 



CL'. 



Fig. 7. — Ci'diigo)! crcuigoii (I. inn.). 



Anterior portion of carapace, rostrum and eyes-; (a) of an Indian specimen : 

 (ft) of a specimen from Plymouth. 



Japanese waters. He, however, gives a summary of the characters 

 of C. affinis, de Haan, C. propinquus , Stimpson, C. hakodatei, 

 Rathbun, C. consohrinns, de Man, and C. cassiope, de Man, and 

 remarks that in the collections that he himself has examined these 

 characters are inconstant, even in specimens from a single gather- 

 ing. He regards the last four of the names just mentioned as 

 synonyms of C. affinis, a form which he apparently considers to be 

 merely a subspecies of C. crangon. 



If Balss is correct, the retention of a distinct subspecific 

 name for the Japanese form seems to have little to recommend it. 

 The characters of C. crangon, if tabulated on Balss's plan, will 

 evidently fall within the raage of variation of the single Japanese 



' Rathbun, Proc. U.S. Nat. Miis., XX\'f, p. 42 ( 1902). 



2 Pjalss, AbJiamil. matli.-pJiys. Khissc K. Bayer. Akad . Wiss. Mi'tiiclicn, 



Suppl.-Bd. II, p. 62 (1914). 

 •5- Brashnikow, Meiii. Acad. hup. Sci. Nat. St. Fctcrsbiirg. (8), X.\, p. S4 



( 1907). 



