45 



NOTES ON TASMANIA^ CRUSTACEA, WITH 

 DESCEIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 



By Geo. M. Thomson, F.L.S. 

 (Corresponding Member Royal Society of Tasmania). 



When in Tasmania in January of this year I collected a 

 few specimens of Crustacea in the neighbourhood of Hobart, 

 and also obtained others from Messrs. A. Simson, of Laun- 

 ceston, and L. Rod way, of Hobart. Since my return to New 

 Zealand several specimens have been forwarded to me by 

 Mr. C. Chilton, who obtained them from Mr. R. M. Laing, 

 and a number of others have been received from Mr. Morton. 



As far as I am aware, no one in Tasmania has devoted 

 special attention to the Crustacea, though a few species have 

 been described in foreign publications from material gathered 

 in the colony. In the " Catalogue of Australian Stalk and 

 Sessile-eyed Crustacea," by Prof. Haswell, of Sydney, which 

 was published in 1882 by the Trustees of the Australian 

 Museum, 42 species are recorded (and 41 described) from 

 Tasmania. Seven more are described as occurring in Bass 

 Straits, some of which are no doubt to be found on the 

 Tasmanian shores. In the various reports of the collections 

 made by the "Challenger" expedition several additional 

 species are also recorded from Bass Straits, to which the 

 same remark applies. 



Only four of the previously described forms are fresh- 

 ■water species, namely: Astaco^psis franldinii and A. tasmani- 

 cus, Engdsus fossor and E. cunicularius, all fresh-water cray- 

 fishes. The latter genus is found in Grippsland as well as in 

 Tasmania. Judging by past experience as to the limits of 

 Tariation among fresh-water crayfishes, it will probably be 

 found on further examination that the two Tasmanian species 

 oi Engseus 2iXQ not entitled to rank separately; Erickson's 

 descriptions are not very satisfactory. 



The collection examined by me includes 22 species. Of 

 these only 5 have been recorded in the Catalogue of the 

 Austrahan Crustacea ; 10 have been already described from 

 other parts of the world, but are now recorded for the first 

 time from Tasmania, while 7 are quite new and are described 

 here for the first time. In an appendix I add a species 

 described by Budde-Lund. These additions bring the total 

 number of species now known to occur in Tasmania to 58. 

 It is manifest that this represents only a fraction of the 

 forms which must occur in the colony. 



D 



