Carcinological Fauna of India. 175 



branchial regions are remarkably tumid, and their surface, like that of 

 the non-excavated parts of the carapace, is reticulate-punctate: the 

 floors of the caverns are either smooth or granular ; the floor of the 

 channel has bead-like granules scattered over it. 



The whole under surface of the body is rough and granular. 



The chelipeds are not quite 1| times the length of the carapace, 

 and are nodular and granular : the hand is rather broader than long, 

 and not much more than half the length of the fingers : along the outer 

 surface of both fingers is a row of pits. The legs are slender, and are 

 covered up to the tips of the dactyli with crisp, clavate, spiniform, or 

 arborescent granules. 



An adult (ovigerous) female has the carapace nearly 11 millim. 

 long, and 14 millim. broad. 



In the Indian Museum are 12 females and a young male from off 

 Ceylon, 34 fins., off the Malabar coast, 28 fms., and from the Persian 



Gulf. 



The abdomen of the young male is sunk below the level of the 



sternum. 



18a. Oreophorus retioulatus, var. alcicomis, nov. 



Differs from the common form in the following particulars : — 



(1) The caverns are much larger, the two just behind the front 

 being separated by a very narrow bridge. 



(2) On either branchial region are three coarse spines — one on 

 the summit and two on the lateral border : the spine on the summit is 

 vertical and has a bifid tip. 



(3) The eyes are not at all visible in a dorsal view. 

 A single adult female from off the Ganjam Coast, 28 fms. 

 Carapace 14 millim. long, 19 millim. broad. 



Tlos, Adams and White. 



Tlos, Adams and White, ' Samarang ' Crustacea, p. 57. 



Tlos, A. Milne-Edwards, Nouv. Archiv. da Mus. X. 1874, p. 51. 



Tlos differs from Oreophorus chiefly in having the anterior and 

 lateral parts of the carapace flat and the margin of the carapace turned 

 up, so that although the cardiac and parts of the branchial regions are 

 convex, the carapace as a whole is cupped. This is in marked contrast 

 with the inflated form of Oreophorus, and constitutes the only difference 

 between the two forms. 



180 



