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

 Tribe DROMIACEA. 



417 



Brachyura having the buccal frame roughly quadrate, the last pair of legs abnormal 

 in form or size and dorsal in position, the female openings coxal, the first pair of abdomi- 

 nal appendages present in the 

 female, and the gills usually 

 many. 



This tribe comprises 5 

 families, of which 3 are repre- 

 sented in the Beaufort fauna. 



Family DROMIIDAE. 



Dromiacea having the 

 carapace usually not longer 

 than broad and with a well- 

 marked side edge, the eyes 

 usually completely sheltered 

 by orbits when retracted, the 

 gills 14 to 20 on each side, 

 the sternum of the female 

 with longitudinal grooves, and 

 the fourth and fifth legs small, 



subdorsal and usually pre- Fif.'?— Dorsal surface of a crab's carapace showing the important regions and 

 , ., margins. 



hensile. 



Of the 1 1 genera assigned to this family 2 have representatives in the Beaufort 

 fauna. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OP THE BEAUFORT REGION. 



a. Carapace firm and hard; body covered with short hairs Dromidia. 



aa. Carapace soft and membranous; body mostly naked Hypoconcha. 



v.^ aTitrn nale y 



Genus DROMIDIA Stimpson. 



Stimpson, 1858-1860. p. 22s. 



Dromidia antillensis Stimpson. PI. xxxi, fig. 5. 



Dromidia antillensis Stimpson, 1859, p. 24: Benedict, 1901, p. 

 132: Verrill, 1908, p. 431. 



Body and legs covered with a thick coat of short bris- 

 tles, leaving only the tips of the fingers exposed. Cara- 

 pace convex in all directions, longer than wide ; rostral 

 tooth smaller and on a lower level than the inner orbita 

 teeth ; a tooth at about the middle of the superior margin 

 of the orbit and another on the inferior margin; anterolat- 

 eral margins with fotu- or five dentiform tubercles on each 

 side. 

 Chelipeds thick and heavy; hand with three blxmt spines on upper margin; fingers curved and with 

 strong, interlocking teeth. Second and third legs strong and with long, ctirved dactyli; fourth and 

 fifth legs subchelate, the fourth pair the smaller and the fifth turned forward onto the back. 

 Length of carapace of a male, 32 mm.; width, 31 mm. 

 Color, brownish red, fingers crimson, claws of legs horn color. 



Two or three specimens of this curious crab were dredged at depths of about 7 fathoms on the fish- 

 ing gioimds. Like many other crustaceans of the offshore banks it is a West Indian species which has 



3"hniuilliped 

 Z'^moxiltiped 

 l'*7naxilliped 



maxilla 

 mandihlc 



Flo. 18.— Mouth region of a crab showing the appen- 



