82 Records of the Indian Museum. [Yol. XIV, 



of material from many different localities, it seerns best to postpone 

 further consideration of the point. 



The affinities of the imdescribed species are with Burmese and Assam- 

 ese forms. To this there is, however, one exception, viz., Palaemon 

 naso, a species which perhaps differs from the others in being primitive. 

 The relationships of this prawn are by no means clear ; the unusually 

 weak development of the second legs suggests alliance with such forms 

 as P. lamarrei, Milne-Edwards, and P. lanchesieri. de Man, both of which 

 are found in coastal districts. 



Caridina annandalei seems to be the representative in the Salween 

 watershed of a curious little group of species in which the number of 

 epipods is diminished. The only other two species of this group at 

 present known inhabit streams at the base of the Eastern Himalayas. 



Of the Potamonidae P. browneanum is allied to P. andersonianum 

 (Wood-Mason), a species of wide distribution in the mountains of Burma 

 and Yunnan. P. curtohates is related to P. peaUammi (Wood-Mason), 

 hitherto known only from N. E. Assam and from the Kakhyen Hills 

 on the frontiers of Burma and China. 



Potamon acanthicum is a very remarkable form, quite unlike any 

 other Burmese species. It appears, however, to be a highly specialized 

 ofTshoot of the same stock as P. andersonianum. The species is interest- 

 ing in its approximation to the subgenus AcanfhofelpJwsa. 



According to the observations made by Dr. Annandale Decapod 

 Crustacea are of greater economic importance in the Shan States than in 

 most inland parts of India. All the species mentioned in this paper 

 are used as food. In the State of Yawngwhe, in which the Inle Lake 

 is situated, the Potamonidae are caught by the hill tribes and brought 

 down into the village bazaars, in which Palaemon naso is sometimes 

 also on sale. The former are sold roasted, the latter raw and often alive. 

 The Atyidae, however, in spite of their small size, are of greater con- 

 sequence, for very large quantities are collected both for local consump- 

 tion and for export to other parts of Burma and even, it is said, to Siam. 

 They are captured, chiefly as the water sinks in autumn, in small traps 

 of basket-work and in fiat baskets inserted under floating vegetation ; 

 dried in the sun on bamboo mats and packed in large deep baskets, each 

 of which is two men's load. They are carried by porters over the He-Ho 

 pass to the railw^ay and on pack mules inland to the Siamese frontier. 

 One of the baskets used in their capture is figured on Plate vii, fig. 1 of 

 this volume, while one of those in which they are stored and transported 

 is show^n in the photograph reproduced as fig. 3, pi. xKii, in vol. Y of the 

 Memoirs of the Asiatic Societv of Bengal. 



Family POTAMONIDAE. 



Potamon (Potamon) browneanum, sp. no v. 

 Plate xxiv, figs. ], 2. 



This species is closely allied to Potamon (P.) andersonianum, (Wood- 

 Mason), but differs from it and from all its varieties in a number of well- 

 marked features. 



