198 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VoL. 97 
Oviger: Third segment half as long as fourth, fourth half to two- 
thirds as long as fifth. Fifth segment straight, swollen distally, with 
slender curved setae on the ventrodistal half. Eggs large, about 
0.25 mm. in diameter. Terminal spine as long as terminal segment, 
without denticulations. Spines on terminal segments apparently 
without denticulations. Spine formula: 9:9:7: 6. 
Leg: Slender, femur and first tibia equal, second tibia about half 
again as long. Tarsus less than one-third as long as propodus. 
Propodus slightly curved, with a row of well-separated, slender spines 
on the sole. Auxiliary claws as long as terminal claw. 
Measurements (holotype) as follows: 
Proboscis: Mm. | Third leg: Mm. 
1 be S135 Si 2 aR a eRe ren SIC 1.0 PIS PORSi 2. 2 oe Soe 0. 5 
‘Diameters 2S ee 0.5 Second CUxa_ 2. _2 eee 1,2 
serunk, lene hhe oss. Le See 2.5 Thing teoxa 12) 292 aod 0. 4 
Cephalic segment, length______-__ ee Penis. otehne eee er pa) 
Base of chelifores, width - ----_--- 0. 6 Hirst tibia 33208 8 ele os 2.5 
Second lateral process, width____ 1.0 Second tibia. e222 255 ees 3. 5 
Abdomen, length... 22-2. 0. 25 Tarsus’... 2. oes tee 0. 2 
Propose... 5. Joo 2. ee 0. 75 
CARWEE Bit ee ae ca. 0. 18 
Distribution.—This species is so far known only from the Florida 
Keys region. 
Remarks.—Most of Cole’s tow-net material (some of it collected by 
Mayer, but not so indicated on the labels) varies from the specimens 
selected as types in that the neck is about half as long. All the speci- 
mens agree, however, in the proportions of the tarsal joints, triungu- 
late appearance of the terminel claws, and proportions of the palpal 
joints. This combination of characters, together with the untoothed 
terminal claw of the oviger, makes this an easy species to identify. 
It appears to have no near relatives in the warm Atlantic area. 
The European ecological counterpart of Nymphon floridanum is 
Nymphon gracile Leach (non gracile Sars, 1891, pp. 55-58, pl. 5, fig. 1, 
a-h, which=Nymphon brevirostre (Hodge), which in turn is “‘extremely 
difficult if not impossible to distinguish” from N. rubrum Hodge, ac- 
cording to Stephensen, 1935, p. 9). Nymphon gracile has been col- 
lected by surface tows at night in considerable numbers (+150 indi- 
viduals) during its breeding season from January to April at Banyuls- 
sur-Mer by Fage (1932). One of the specimens of floridanum collected 
by Cole in April (probably in daytime) is a female that had recently 
discharged its eggs. 
Nymphon gracile in not a very close taxonomic relative of N. flori- 
danum, however. The tarsal joints of gracile are subequal, with a 
few large spines on the sole of the propedus, the auxiliary claws are 
half as long as the terminal claw, and the proportions of the palpal 
joints are conspicuously different. The fourth joint of the palp of 
