214 BOPYRIOE. 



ISOPODA. BOPYRID^E. 



NORMALIA. 



Genus BOPYRUS, LATREILLE. 



THE male of this genus is very small, narrow, and 

 elongated, resembling an Idotea in its general form, but 

 with only rudimentary antennae, and with the pleon 

 gradually narrowed to the tip and formed of six segments 

 fused together, except at the margin, and apparently 

 destitute of lateral appendages. The body is symme- 

 trical in its shape. 



The cephalon is distinct, transversely ovate, and fur- 

 nished on the underside with two pairs of antennae, the 

 outer pair of which are composed of four short joints, ter- 

 minated by setae, whilst the inner pair are almost rudi- 

 mental, and composed apparently of only two joints ; 

 the mouth is also almost rudimental, forming a conical 

 point. The seven pairs of legs are of nearly equal size, 

 and of considerable strength and thickness ; they are 

 affixed on the underside of the body, near the lateral 

 margins, which are prolonged into rounded plates, and 

 are directed, when at rest, towards the mesial line of 

 the body, and terminated by a broadly ovate recurved 

 hand, with a short, strong, bent claw at its extremity, 

 employed for prehension. 



The female is five or six times as large again as the 

 male, being pear-shaped and unsymmetrical in its form, 

 generally curved to one or the other side, and very 

 much depressed, so that it assumes the appearance of a 

 shield, having the lateral margins rather dilated and 

 elevated, the lateral line of the segments being more 



