AmjyhipOil from Kew Gardens. 135 



anfennse and the form of the outer plates of the maxillipeds, 

 whicli help to confirm the distinctness of the Kew species 

 from botii the others. 



At the same time it should be noted that comparison of the 

 earlier accounts of Talitrus si/Ivuti'cus gives the impression 

 that this species is more than usually variable, or else that 

 more than one species has been included under tliat name. 

 HasuelTs eax-lier figures (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. iv. 1879, 

 pi. vii. fig. 1) show the second gnathopods as very slender, 

 ^vith the propodus four times as long as wide in the male. 

 In the later figure by Haswell (op. c'lt. x. 1885, pi. x. fig. 1), 

 as iti those given by Thomson (Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania, 1892 

 (1893), pi. iv.) and by Sayce, the proportions are very 

 diff'erent. 



A still more puzzling discrepancy exists between published 

 accounts of the })leopods. Thomson {t. c. p. 61) states that 

 lie failed to find any trace of the third pair. Sayce [t. c. 

 p. 32) confirms this : " no vestige of a third pair is to be 

 found." Chevreux {t. c. p. 392). on the other hand, de- 

 scribing specimens of T. sylvatlcus sent to him by Prof. 

 Chilton, states that the pleopods of the third pair* resemble 

 those of the first two pairs in being biramous, althout2,-h they 

 are of smaller size. In two specimens from Port Jackson, 

 received from the Australian Museum many years ago as 

 T. syhaticus, I find the third pleopods to be represented by 

 small vestiges much like those figured by Chevreux in the 

 case of T. alluaudi. These vestiges are so small and, from 

 their position, so hard to see, that they may possibly have 

 been overlooked both by Thomson and by Sayce. It is 

 hardly possible, however, that Chevreux can have been 

 deceived on this point, to which he gave special attention in 

 comparing the Sj)ecies with T. alluaudi. 



Mr. A. O. Walker, jvho has been good enough to examine 

 specimens of the Kew Talitrus for me, has called my attention 

 to the resemblance of its elongated second gnathopods to 

 those figured by Spence Bate in Talorchestia (?) africana 

 (Cat. Amphip. Brit. Mus. 1862, p. 15, pi. ii. fig. 6). The 

 resemblance is considerable, and since the holotype is a 

 female, it is quite possible that Bates's species really belongs 

 to the genus Talitrus. Even in its present mutilated and 

 fragile condition, however, the specimen shows some characters 

 which forbid its association with the Kew species. The 



* M. Chevreux wi-ites " uropodes de la troisieme paire," but from th©^ 

 context it is quite clear that he is referring to the pleopods. 



