324 Carcinological Fauna of India. 



the longest, and the postero-lateral border's being anteriorly-convergent 

 lo form a common curve with the Avell-arched anterior and antero- 

 lateral borders : it is but little broader than long, is convex fore and aft 

 and strongly declivous anteriorly, and shows the regions indistinctly 

 and incompletely. 



Frouto-oibital border less than half, front less than a fifth, the 

 greatest breadth of the carapace, the front being prominent and 

 bilobed. 



Orbits in the usual position, completely filled by the immovable 

 eye-stalks : eyes obsolete. The antennules are small, and fold obliquely 

 rather than tx'ansveisely in proper pits. Bnsal antenna- joint short: the 

 flagellum, which also is short, stands in the orbital hiatus. 



Epistome and mouth parts, as also the abdomen, as in TypJdocar- 

 cinus. 



Chelipeds a little unequal, much more massive and i*ather longer 

 than the legs, of which the 3rd pair is slightly the longest. Palm short 

 deep and compressed, with sharp edges. 



Legs slender, unarmed : dactyli styliform. 



Distribution : Indian Ocean, from Mauritius and the Red Sea to 

 the Andamans. 



This genus differs from Typhlocarcinus in having the carapace 

 more elongate and more semicircular in outline, the front more pro- 

 minent and narrower, and the antennules more cramped in consequence. 



27. Xenopthalmodes vioebii, Richters. 



Xenophthalmodes moebii, Richters, in Mobiua, Meeresf. Manrifc. p. 155, pi. xvi. 

 fig. 29 and pi. xvii. figs. 1-5 1880 : Miers, P. Z. S. ISSl, pp. 10, 12 : de Man, Notes 

 Leyden Mus. XII. 1890, p. 68, pi. iii. fig. 5. 



The carapace has rather a lop-sided look and is practically smooth, 

 except for two rather deep semilunar impressions that incompletely 

 separate the gastro-cardiac from the epibranchial regions : its surface 

 is bare, but its free edges, like the edges of the chelipeds and legs, are 

 thickly fringed with longish silky hairs : its length is about five-sixths 

 the greatest breadth, which is quite posterior. Front very decidedly 

 bilobed. Orbits oval. Buccal cavern very slightly decreasing in 

 breadth anteriorly : the merus of the external maxillipeds has the 

 autero-external angle rounded off. 



Chelipeds in the male a little longer than the legs, and with the 

 hands decidedly unequal : the inner angle of the wrist is acuminate : 

 the upper edge of the palm is sharp and crest-like, the lower edge has 

 a low granular crest or moulding, the surface of the palm is smooth 

 and polished. The larger cheliped, measured along its convexities, is 

 about twice the length of the carapace. 



666 



