CRUSTACEA NORTH PACIFIC EXPLORING EXPEDITION 103 



are pale reddish. It is very common on the shores of Botany Bay 

 and Port Jackson, Australia, living on sandy beaches, in holes of 

 slight depth, generally much above low-water mark. It is called 

 "soldier crab" by the colonists. 



161. MYCTIRIS BREVIDACTYLUS Stimpson 



Plate XIII, Fig. 4 



Myctiris brcvidacfylits Stimpson, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., x, p. 99 



[45], 1858. 



Carapax short, globular, nearly smooth. Breadth to length as 

 1 : 1.06. Branchial regions but little inflated, microscopically gran- 

 ulated. On the posterior or depressed portion of the gastric region 

 there are two short, longitudinal depressed lines, parallel, one on 

 each side. There is a short, slender, blunt spine on each side near 

 the external angle of the orbit. Chelipeds nearly as in M. longicar- 

 pus, but stouter. Ambulatory feet also stouter than in the species 

 just mentioned, with short and thick dactyli. The dactylus in the 

 posterior pair is curved upward near the extremity, and trigonal in 

 shape, with the angles ciliated. 



Color of the carapax whitish blue, deeper about the middle of the 

 back. Feet white, pale reddish near their bases. Dimensions of a 

 male : Length of carapax, 0.682 ; breadth, 0.639 hich. 



This species is easily distinguished from M. longicarpus, which it 

 much resembles in general appearance, by the shorter and thicker 

 terminal joints of the ambulatory feet. It may prove to be the 

 M. dcHexifrons of De Haan, but we can nowhere find a description 

 of this species. 



It is found in great numbers on low sandy-mud shores and flats in 

 the lower half of the littoral zone. It occurred to us at Hongkong 

 and among the Loo Choo Islands. 



162. MYCTIRIS PLATYCHELES Milne Edwards 



Plate XIII, Fig. s 

 Myctiris platychclcs Milne Edwards, Melanges Carcinologiques, p. 118. 



The description of Milne Edwards is as follows : "Carapace cou- 

 verte de petits points granuleux, tres espaces et tres saillants. Pattes 

 courtes et larges. — Port Western." It is not inconsistent with the 

 characters of our crab, but there are several prominent distinctive 

 characters not mentioned which render the identification, based 

 upon so short a diagnosis, somewhat uncertain. 



