4 c. BOVALLIUS, NOTES ON PTERYGOCERA ARENARIA, SLABBER. 



buted, thereby also indicating his impression of its affinity to 

 the Isopoda of the present day. Statius Muller (2), his ger- 

 man translator, observed that the animal might be the type 

 of a genus of its own, for which he proposed the name Hau- 

 storius, but this appellation, being an adjective and consequently 

 contrarious to the rules of Linnean nomenclature, has been 

 justly forgotten. 



During the succeeding time naturalists appear to have löst 

 sight of Slabber's book. \Ve do not find it noticed by J. C. 

 Fabeicius, Gmelin and Desmaeest, nor by Lateeille in the 

 entomological part of Cutiee's Kégne animal, the first edition 

 of 1817. It is only in 1818 that we meet with our animal in 

 a work of Lateeille (3), but mentioned solely on the authority 

 of Slabber, as Oniscus arenarius, and with the remark, that it 

 were a new genus related to lone. Accordingly, in 1825, 

 Latreille (4) applied to it the generic appellation of Ptery- 

 gocera, and added a description, based entirely upon that given 

 by Slabber, as Lateeille himself had never seen the animal. 

 He also followed Slabbee in placing it among the Isopoda, in his 

 group of Phytobranchia, and when he again dividcd that group 

 in two families: Decempedes and Heteropa, and removed 

 these from Isopoda to Amphipoda, he was uncertain as to 

 in which of these subordincs he should include Pterygocera. 

 In the same year however he mentions it (5) as belongiug to 

 the family Heteropa of the Amphipoda, and låter (7) in the 

 second edition of Cuviees Kegne animal, of 1829, he retains 

 for it the same systematic position. 



Hitherto an actual specimen of our animal had been in 

 no ones hands except Slabbers. It was only in 1851 that 

 Spence Bate (11) rediscovered it. But unaware of its identity 

 with Slabber's Oniscus arenarius, he described it as Bellia 

 arenaria, an appellation which in 1854 (12) he exchanged for 

 that of Sulcator arenarius, the name Bellia having been four\d 

 preoccupied. In 1855 (13), 1857 (14) and 1858 (15) he gave 

 some further notices of it, and in 1862 — 1863 (16, 17) descri- 

 bed it raore in detail, ranging it under the family Phoxidai. 

 Subsequently P. H. Gosse (20) referred it to the family Or- 

 chestiadje, and A. White (21) mentioned it among the Gam- 

 maridse, Avhile J. Dana (19) placed it among the Corophidae. 



In 1864 Axel Boeck discovered at Karmö near Bergen 

 some fragments of our animal; he established in 1870 (22) and 



