266 



Records of I he Indian Museum. 



[Vol. XIII, 



armed. The carpus is smooth. The 



Fig. 13. — Rhynchoplax 11a salts. 

 Chela of male (denuded). 



chela is not greatly com- 

 pressed and is not cari- 

 nate either above or be- 

 low. In the male it is 

 little more than twice as 

 long as deep, the dactyl - 

 us being about one and 

 a half times the length 

 of the upper border of 

 the palm. When the claw 

 is closed the fingers meet 

 throughout their length ; 

 they are armed with a 

 regular series of six blunt 



behind forwards (text-fig. 



KiG. 14. — RJiynchoplax 

 iiasalis, sp. nov. 



Tip of dactylus of penult- 

 imate walking leg. 



teeth which diminish in size from 



13). 



The second pair of walking legs is about two and a half times 



the length of the carapace and rostrum, the 



last pair about twice the length. All the 



segments are very slender and there is no 



tooth at the end of the upper border of the 



merus. The dactyli are curved ; that of the 



first pair is simple, while in the remaining 



three pairs there is a single small recurved 



tooth situated some distance behind the apex (text- fig. 14). 



The abdomen of the male (text-fig. 15) is abnormally broad, 



the length of the two ultimate 

 pieces being equal to the 

 breadth of the penultimate. 

 The lateral margin of the latter 

 is abruptly narrowed anteriorly 

 and bears a large and curiously 

 formed tubercle near its distal 

 end. The ultimate segment is 

 broader than long, broadly 

 rounded apically and with ele- 

 vated lateral margins. In the 

 female the abdomen is broad, 

 but the ultimate segment is ra- 

 ther more triangular than in 

 other species. 



The entire animal is covered 

 with hairs, which are compara- 

 tively long on the chelipedes 

 and legs. The specimens when 



caught were covered with a dense coating of mud which was only 



removed with great difficulty. When denuded the crabs were 



ivory white in colour, the eggs of the female being reddish orange. 

 The length of the carapace and rostrum in an adult male is 



44 mm., an ovigerous female is exactly the same size. 



Fig. 



15- 



Rhynchoplax iiasalis 

 sp. nov. 

 Abdomen of male. 



