24-8 



Carapace longer than broad, occasionally smooth, usually rugulose, some- 

 times spinulose ; the an tero- lateral borders are usually spinose, or dentate, but 

 are occasionally entire and subcristif orm ; the gastric and cardiac regions are 

 usually well defined. Thoracic sternum broad. 



Rostrum well developed : there is sometimes a small supra-antennal tooth 

 or spine on either side of it but never a long supra-orbital spine. 



Abdomen simply flexed : some of the anterior terga are, generally, trans- 

 versely grooved : the pleura behind the 1st are well developed. Tail-fan large 

 and symmetrical, the telson being broad and even more plainly than in Munidn, 

 revealing its component parts (7th abdominal tergum and a pair of appendages 

 incompletely fused together). 



Byes present, but not facetted and not pigmented. Antennular peduncles 

 \veak and flexed : the flagella short, especially the lower one. 



Antennal peduncle 4j-jointecl. 



The mouth-parts only differ from those of Munida in the fact that the 

 exopodites of the 1st maxillipeds have no flagellum. 



Epipodites are always present on the 1st and 3rd (external) maxillipeds and 

 are sometimes present on the chelipeds and occasionally on the next 3 pairs of 

 legs also. 



The chelipeds are usually more massive than the next 3 pairs of legs : the 

 last pair of legs are weak and are folded. 



In the male, paired appendages are present on the first 5 abdominal somites, 

 the first 2 pairs being modified for copulation, and the next 3 pairs being weak 

 and often rudimentary. In the female, paired appendages are present on the 

 2nd-5th somites. 



The branchia? are 14 on either side arranged as in 

 The eggs are large and not numerous. 



I quite agree with Faxon that the attempt to separate Elasmonotus, Gala- 

 Rhodes and Oropliorliynclms as well defined genera distinct from each other and 

 from Mimidopsis is a mistake, since they all grade into one another. In this 

 memoir, one genus, Munidopsis, is recognized, but the species are arranged in 

 five groups which may be regarded as subgenera, or not. 



Group I. MUNIDOPSIS proper, with the antero-lateral angles of the carapace 

 spiniform, even if the lateral borders are not anteriorly spinose or dentate ; with 

 the rostrum styliform or acutely triangular, without any lateral spines ; with the 

 chelipeds decidedly longer than the legs and usually, in the male, as long as, or 

 longer than, the fully extended body ; and with the eyes terminal on the eye- 

 stalks, which are almost always freely movable. 



