420 BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Three specimens of this bizarre crab, one male and two females, were dredged by the Fish Hawk 

 in over lOO fathoms, 30 miles south of Cape Lookout. The species has been reported from the American 

 coast by S. I. Smith whose specimens came from a depth of 70 fathoms off the coast of Massachusetts. 

 It was described by Roxix from the Mediterranean. 



Tribe OXYSTOMATA. 



Brachyura having the buccal frame (endostome) prolonged forward, like a gutter, 

 over the epistome, the female openings usually sternal, the first abdominal appendages 

 of the female wanting, and the gills few. 



This tribe includes 4 families of which 3 are represented in the Beaufort fauna. 



Family RANINIDAE. 



Oxystomata having the body long and more or less abnormal in shape, the abdomen 

 not completely hidden beneath the thorax, the antennae large and the last two pairs of 

 legs more dorsal than the others and with their last two articles broad. 



This family comprises 9 genera of which i is represented in the Beaufort fauna. 



Genus RANILIA H. Milne-Edwards. 



Ranilia H. Milne-Edwards, 1834-1840, t. n, p. 195. 



Ranilla muricata H. Milne-Edwards. PI. xxxi, fig. i. 



Ranilia muricata H. Milne-Edwards, 1834-1840, t. u, p. 195; Kingsley, 1878-79, p. 316. 



Carapace oval, strongly convex from side to side, slightly so from front to back, smooth posteriorly 

 but with numerous transverse cilated wrinkles anteriorly; rostrum slender; anterior border of carapace 

 with four strong spines on each side, of which the innermost constitutes the internal angle of tlie orbit, 

 the third surmoimts the external angle of these cavities and the fourth is at the external angle of the front. 



Eyestalks strong, about four times as long as the rostrum and capable of being turned back into the 

 deep, oblique orbits. First antennse very small. Second antennae directed forward and slightly longer 

 than the eyestalks. First pair of legs subchelate, stout, flattened distally, squamose-denticulate above 

 and with a strong spine on the supero-distal margin of the meros, carpus and manus; distal margin of 

 manus perpendicular, toothed; dactyl strong, curved. Second, third, and fourth pairs of legs with 

 flattened, triangular dactyli. Fifth pair of legs elevated, turned forward and densely fringed with hairs. 

 Abdomen short and narrow. 



Color, porcelain white with red vermiculate transverse lines on the cephalothorax and red dots and 

 blotches on the legs. 



This species, first credited to the North Carolina fauna by Kingsley, appears to be confined to the 

 sand bottoms well offshore. In the operationson the Blackfish Banks in 1913 and 1914 several specimens 

 were obtained in the dredge and fragments of others were secured from fish stomachs. It has not been 

 met within the harbor nor along the beaches. 



Family CALAPPIDAE. 



Oxystomata of normal crablike form having the abdomen hidden beneath the thorax, 

 the antennae small, the legs normal in posidon, the afferent openings of the gill chambers 

 in front of the chelipeds, the gills nine on each side and the male openings coxal. 



This family comprises 1 1 genera of which 3 are represented in the Beaufort fauna. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OP THE BEAUFORT REGION. 



a. Posterolateral region of the carapace expanded and dentate Calappa. 



aa. Posterolateral region of the carapace not expanded. 



6. Carapace considerably broader than long, regularly convex above Hepatus. 



66. Carapace nearly as long as broad, dorsal smface very uneven Osachila. 



