14 



the reference to Seba, would give his specific name priority over 

 that used by Alihie-Edwards. The description by the latter 

 author does not suffice to distinguish between the two forms re- 

 corded by de Haan. Milne-Edwards says nothing about th'e 

 colour, and his coloured figure was probably not published till 

 some years later. On the other hand, Seba's pi. i8, f. 9, shows 

 three frontal teeth instead of four, is devoid of the three spotSj 

 which are not alluded to in the description, vol. 3, p. 44, " Color 

 ab omni parte idem dilute fiavus, splendens-' But if bipiistulattis 

 is identified with piiiiclatus, the priority cannot reasonably be re- 

 fused to the latter name, since in 1833 it was assigned to a well- 

 defined genus, quite as good for its identification as the specific 

 description given by Milne-Edwards in the following year. In 

 the generic definition de Elaan calls attention to the peculiar 

 structure of the seventh joint in the second pair of trunk legs. 

 This finger in the adult male is falciform, dilated, and on the hind 

 margin deeply grooved. The fissuring begins a little way from 

 the base, and then the edges spread out. so as to give a somewhat 

 flattened appearance to the back of the fing-er viewed from above. 

 In the specific account he mentions that the femora of these samie 

 feet have a transverse membranaceous crest on the superior apex^ 

 which Miers also notices, saying, "' above the articulation the 

 margin of the thigh is raised, and forms a crest." All that I can 

 perceive is a transverse ridge on the distal margin of the fourth 

 joint, which is commonly called the arm, not the thigh. Krauss, 

 who remarks the three spots on the carapace, says that fnmacu- 

 lotns is scarcely distinct from punctafiis, though he upholds its 

 name and reduces hipustulains to a synonym. He says it is very 

 common in Table Bay, and prefers sandy, sheltered wastes, suit- 

 able to its thin_, brittle shell, and in harmon}' with its colouring, 

 which in the ground work is yellow, though sprinkled with blood- 

 red dots, in addition to the half-moon shaped median and the two 

 postero-lateral spots. 

 Localitv :— F'alse Bav. 



Catometopa. 



1900. CatoJiuiopa, Alcock. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. 69, 

 pt 2, p. 281. 

 Alcock says, " The Catomctopa may be divided into 9 families. 

 One of these, the Gonoplacidac, so closely approaches the Cyclo- 

 metope family Xanihidae that such Xanthoid forms as Geryon and 

 Camptoplax have by some authors been included in it, while, on 

 the other hand, some of its constituent genera, such as Gonoplax 

 and CarcinopJax, have been ranged among the Cyclometopes." 



