534 Mr. L. A. Borradaile on the 
LITI.—On the Classification of the Thalassinidea. By L. A. 
BorrapaiLteE, M.A., Lecturer in Natural Sciences at 
Selwyn College, Cambridge. 
Wirn the one exception of the Penzidea, there is now no 
tribe of Decapod Crustaceans whose systematy is so uncertain 
as that of the Thalassinidea. This isin part owing to the 
lack of any monograph or revision of the group; but there 
can, unfortunately, be no doubt that it is also partly due to 
the Report on the ‘Challenger’ Macrura, which m many 
places parts company both with the facts and with the state- 
meuts of other writers (as Boas, Claus, Ortmann, and Alcock), 
and is not to be relied upon, either in the text or in the 
figures, for information as to gill-formule, antennal spines, 
or even the shape of the legs, on all which points it has misled 
and puzzled later writers. In the following attempt to lay 
the groundwork of a better knowledge of this group—a 
detailed revision of which would need more material than I 
had before me—the facts have been gotten by an examination 
of the specimens in the British and Cambridge Museums 
and from the works of sundry writers, chiefly those men- 
tioned above*. For allowing me to examine the collections 
under his charge, and for his hospitality at the British 
Museum while I was doing so, my best thanks are due to 
Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell. I am also under great obligation to 
Dr. W. T. Calman for kindly examining several specimens 
for me. 
I have not attempted a full list of references of the species 
or a detailed account of their distribution +, and in many 
* Boas, J. V. “Studien over Dekapoderms Slegtskabsforhold,” Kone. 
Danske Vidensk. Selskab. Skrifter, vi. i. (1880). 
Ciaus, C. ‘Neue Beitrage zur Morphologie der Crustaceen,’ Wien, 
1885 (Arb. Zool. Inst. Wien, vi.). 
OrtmMAnN, A. E. “Die Decapoden-Krebse des Strassburger Mu- 
seums,” iii. Theil, Zool. Jahrb. vi. Syst. i. (1891). 
Art. “ Crustacea” in Bronn’s ‘ Thierreich,’ y. ii. (1901). 
Aucock, A. ‘ Descriptive Catalogue of the Indian Deep-sea Crus- 
tacea Decapoda Macrura...’ Calcutta, 1901. 
+ The letters which are placed after the names of species in the lists 
given in this paper show very roughly their distribution, as follows :— 
. North Atlantic, to the Mediterranean and Cape Hatteras. 
. Mediterranean. 
West Africa. 
. South Atlantic, including South Africa. 
. East America, from Cape Hatteras to the River Plate. 
. Southern Australia, with Tasmania and New Zealand. 
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