DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OF THE BEAUFORT, N. C, REGION. 415 



angle of propodus produced into a spine, dactyli curved and rather slender. Second, third, and fourth 

 legs stout, hairy, and with falcate dactyli. Fifth legs weak, borne above the others. Second, third, 

 and fourth abdominal segments with expanded pleura. Fifth and sixth segments small. Uropods 

 consisting of a rather large basal article and two small falcate blades. Telson of male triangular, of 

 the female roimded. 



Length of a male, rostrum to tip of telson, 36 mm.; carapace, 20 mm. 



Color, a light piu-ple with whitish markings, more or less iridescent. 



This species, whose distribution extends from North Carolina to the West Indies, is not uncommon 

 OQ the sandy shoals about Beaufort. It is seldom taken, however, except at timesof extreme low tide, 

 when the sand flats are exposed to the heat of the sun and the animal comes to the surface. In the 

 dredging about the fishing banks it has been collected on several occasions, and once it was found in 

 the stomach of a blackfish. 



Genus LEPIDOPA Stimpson. 

 Lepidopa Stimpson, 1858-1860, p. 230 {1858). 

 Lepidopa websteri Benedict. PI. xxx, fig. 12. 



? Lepidopa venusta and L. scutetlata Kingsley. iSSoa, p. 410. 

 Lepidopa websteri Benedict, 1903, p. 892. 



Carapace lyrate, widest anteriorly, sides sinuous and slightly convergent posteriorly. Posterior 

 margin slightly concave; sides of carapace folded inward ventrally, over the bases of the legs, this 

 flap, especially posteriorly, more or less membranous; anterolateral angle produced into a flat spine; 

 front fringed with setae and produced into a short, triangular rostrum and a slightly more prominent, 

 triangular tooth on either side of it; dorsal surface crossed near the front by an impressed, ciliate band 

 with backwardly directed ends, a narrower band ending in obliquely directed impressed lines crosses 

 at about the middle of the carapace. » 



Eyestalks oval, lamellate. Antennulary pedvincle exceeding eyestalk; flagellum straight, slender, 

 nearly three times as long as the carapace. Antennae situated at the extreme outer angles of the front; 

 basal article stout; scale reduced to a minute point; flagellum stout, curved, composed of seven short 

 articles. First pair of legs with broad, flat articles, dactyli turned back on propodus to form a subchela. 

 Second, third, and fourth legs without dactyli but with the propodus developed into a halberd-shaped 

 two-pointed foot. Fifth legs much reduced, slender and doubled up between the abdomen and body. 



Abdomen short and partly flexed beneath the body; second, third, and foiuth segments with 

 expanded pleura. Uropods small, with slender basal article and long oval blades; their margins and 

 those of the abdominal segments fringed with long, silky hairs. Telson lozenge-shaped with rounded 

 comers. 



Length of carapace, 12 mm.; width, 15.5 mm. 



Color, in alcohol, probably also in life, ptu-e white, but everywhere beautifully iridescent, giving 

 pearly reflections at every ttu^ of the body. 



The museum of the Beaufort laboratory contains a single damaged specimen of this animal, the 

 locality of which has been lost, but which tmdoubtedly came from one of the sea beaches of the 

 region. The only other known specimen, in the collection of Union College, was picked up on the shore 

 near Fort Macon. During the summers of 1911 and 1912 exuvias of rather small individuals were not 

 at all uncommon along the beach to the west of the fort, where they have been cast up by the waves. 



From its similarity to Aibunea gibbesii and Emerila ialpoida, this crustacean must be regarded as a 

 burrower in the sand. It has been suggested by Dr. Benedict that its habitat is probably in deeper 

 water than the species mentioned. It must be said, however, that a vast amoimt of digging close to 

 the shore has failed to produce any living specimen, nor has dredging at distances from the shore varying 

 from 200 yards to 20 miles. The creatxire may be very local in distribution or may live within the region 

 of tumbling stuf where collecting is impossible. 



Kingsley lists L. venusia and L. scuiellata as members of the Beaufort fauna, but neither of these 

 is believed to occur in the region. Kingsley 's record was unquestionably based on the specimen col- 

 lected by Prof. Webster, and this is the one which later became the type of Benedict's L. websteri. 

 The differences between L. websteri and L. venusta are very slight, however, and future investigation 

 may show the two species to be identical. 



