DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS OF THE BEAUFORT, N. C, REGION. 425 



region with a large blunt tooth. Abdomen of male narrow triangular with a backward projecting spine 

 at proximal end of the penultimate segment; abdomen of female with the penultimate segment very 

 large, nearly circular. 



Chelipeds stout, a little longer than the width of the carapace, their joints angular, outer margin 

 of manus crested. 



Length of carapace, 14 mm., width, 15 mm. 



Color, a light gray or buff ; the female occasionally with two or three small red spots on the abdomen. 



This curious little crab is not uncommon at depths from i to 5 fathoms in the channels about Beau- 

 fort. When brought to the surface in the dredge it feigns death and is only with difficulty distinguished 

 from the pebbles and bits of shell among which it appears to make its home. Eggs occur at intervals 

 throughout the summer. 



Stimpson's material, from which the species was described, came from Beaufort Harbor. 



Genus SPEKEOPHORUS A. Milne-Edwaids. 



Spelceopkorus A. Milne-Edwards, 1865, p. 148. 



KBY TO THE SPECIES OP THE BEAtJFORT REGION. 



a. Lateral margins of carapace expanded into broad, flattened wings pontifera. 



aa. Lateral portions of carapace tumid, not expanded into wings nodosus. 



Speloeophorus pontifera (Stimpson). PI. xxxn, fig. 5. 



Lithadia pontifera Stimpson, 1871, p. 115; Rathbun, 1901, p. 38. 

 SpeUeophonts triangidus A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, p. 23. 



Carapace subrhomboidal, from one-third to one-sixth wider than long, its surface granulate and 

 very imeven; front narrow, produced, upturned, and with a deep median sinus; orbits small; lateral 

 margin of branchial region on each side extended into a broad wing which conceals the legs and whose 

 outer end is truncate or concave; anterolateral margin concave and with a notch near its middle; poste- 

 rior margin broad and with a deep roimded cavity on each side of the intestinal region which extends 

 toward, and almost to, a much smaller pit on the dorsal surface at the side of the cardiac region; a narrow 

 suture connects the cavity and pit of each side. From the front a ridge, interrupted at the center of tlie 

 carapace, extends back along the mid-dorsal line almost to the posterior margin; on each side of this 

 ridge, in the branchial region, is a prominent elevation more or less divided into two parts, one of which 

 is connected by a ridge with the anterior angle of the lateral wing, while the other is similarly connected 

 with the posterior angle. 



Chelipeds of moderate size; meros with two large, triangular teeth on the outer margin; fingers 

 slender and curved. Walking legs granulate and tuberculate throughout. 



One specimen, 12 mm. wide, was seciued by the Fish Hawk on the fishing banks. 



The species is a small one, apparently attaining a width of about 15 mm., and is extremely variable. 

 The ridges and elevations of the dorsal sxirface may be sharp and very conspicuous or low and rounded ; 

 the angles of the lateral wings of the carapace may be produced or rounded off. The female is not as 

 wide in proportion to her length as is the male, her abdomen is densely tuberculate and the outer poste- 

 rior part of the lateral wings is somewhat tumid. 



Among the specimens in the United States National Museum the extreme of angularity of sculpture 

 in this species is shown by a specimen from off Culebra, P. R. A less angular specimen comes, 

 probably from Florida. The Beaufort specimen is less angular than either of these. 



Speloeophorus nodosus (Bell). PI. xxxn, fig. 4. 



Oreophorus nodosus Bell, 1855, p. 307. 



SpelcEophorus nodosus Milne-Edwards, 1865, p. 149; Rathbun, 1901. p. 89. 



SpeUBOphorus nodosus Stimpson, 1871, p. 119. 



Carapace convex, subtriangular or pentagonal, posterolateral angles roimded, its stuface evenly 

 and thickly covered everywhere with crowded, roimded granules; a prominent, broad ridge extends 

 backward from the front to the cardiac region; on each side there is a low hump on the hepatic region, 

 and behind this, at the side of the gastric region, there is a much larger hump, and still farther back, near 

 the posterior border, is one of nearly equal size; the posterior humps overhang and largely contain a pair 



