DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OP THE BEAUFORT, N. C, REGION. 385 



Antennules with the inner branch filiform; outer branch thick, but bearing near its tip a filiform 

 extension; basal spine slightly exceeding the first article. Antennular scale slightly longer than the 

 peduncle, basal spine shorter than basal spine of antennule. Chelae very unequal; the larger one com- 

 pressed (but not nearly so much as in C. heterochcslis) smooth above and unnotched along the margins; 

 movable finger about one-fourth as long as hand; smaller chela much slenderer, its inner surface with 

 a stout spine overhanging the base of the movable finger; the latter about half as long as hand. Carpal 

 articles of second pair of legs having the proportion 4, 1.7, i, 1,2. 



Length of an ovigerous female, 31 mm.; carapace, 11 mm. 



Color: Along the median line, extending from the distal end of the peduncles of the antennules 

 to the base of the telson a narrow light stripe, light orange-yellow anteriorly merging into yellowish 

 green and finally gray posteriorly; on each side of this a broad stripe of chocolate brown; below this, 

 along each side, a stripe of white; and below this a stripe of light vinaceous brown followed on the 

 abdomen by a border of ultramarine blue. The chelae are greenish brown with orange-red fingers. 

 The antennules, antennae, and walking legs are ultramarine blue. The telson and tail fins are blotched 

 and bordered with yellow. 



Two specimens, one a female with eggs almost ready to hatch, of this strikingly colored snapping 

 shrimp were taken by the Fish Hawk on the fishing grounds at a depth of about 15 fathoms. The spe- 

 cies was described by Gibbes from Key West, Fla., and since that time it has not been reported on the 

 coast of the United States. It has, however, been collected in Porto Rico, Cuba, Bermudas, and Brazil. 



Crangon packardii (Kingsley). PI. xxvi, fig. 4. 



Alpheus packardiiKinz^ley, 1879 (1880), p. 417; Rathbun, 1901. p. 107. 



Alpheus bermudensis Bate. iSSS. p. 547. 



Alpheus minus Herrick, in Brooks and Herrick, 1892, p. 372. 



Carapace about two-thirds as long as abdomen, somewhat compressed, cervical groove hardly 

 evident; front produced into an obtuse angle above each eye; rostrum carinate, the carina extending 

 back as far as base of eyestalks, the spiniform tip reaching second article of antennule. 



Abdomen compressed, smooth, tapering. Telson rather small, faintly grooved; upper surface with 

 four strong, movable spines; tip fringed with small spines. 



Eyes well developed but completely covered by the carapace. Antennules with the inner branch 

 slender, the outer one shorter and with its proximal four-fifths enlarged. Antenna a little longer than 

 body, slender; scale as long as peduncle of antennule and with a strong apical spine ; basal segment with 

 a strong spine on lower part of outer surface. Third maxillipeds slender, not reaching tip of antenna! 

 scale, terminal segment with long hairs. Chelae unequal, the larger one broad and flattened, slightly 

 sinuate along inner margin ; outer margin with a longitudinal groove above and below, the ridge between 

 them ending in a strong tooth behind base of dactylus; dactylus heavy, ciu"ved, tootied at base; both 

 fingers with setae at tips. Smaller hand about one-half as wide and three-fourths as long as the larger 

 one, similarly formed but with a sharp spine above at base of dactylus; no basal tooth on dactylus and 

 both fingers slenderer and more hairy. Carpus much reduced. Meros with a spiniform tooth near 

 distal end and one or two small spines below. All the legs with scattering long hairs especially at the 

 joints. Carpalarticlesof second pair of legs diminishing as follows: Second, first, fifth, third, and fourth. 



Length of a male, 27 mm. 



Color, gray. 



This, the commonest snapping shrimp of the region, is usually found on shelly bottoms and is 

 frequently brought up in the dredge. It may also be found on wharf piles and among old oyster shells. 

 Its snap, although readily enough noticed, is weak in comparison with that of its larger relative C. 

 heterochcelis. 



This is, in all probability, the species indicated by the name Alpheus minor, in the older lists of 

 the crustaceans of the Beaufort region. As determined by Couti^e, A Ipheus minor Say is a Synalpheus; 

 it is apparently one of the rarest crustaceans of the region and was probably never recognized nor collected 

 here until within a year or two. That the Alpheus minus (or minor) of Herrick, Brooks, and other 

 students of the Johns Hopkins summer laboratory was Crangon packardii is conclusively proved by the 

 colored figure in Herrick 's paper. 



