TO INDIAN CAECINOLOGY. 435 



large, passes close to the upper margin. On the inner surface of the hand a shallow 

 furrow connects the two marginal sulci and extends across the long axis of the joint. 

 The dactylus is strongly curved and carinated dorsally, with the apex curving beyond 

 that of the lower immohile finger. No ridges are present on the larger hand. The 

 smaller chelipede is very long, slender, and unarmed ; the fingers are slightly incurved 

 and very long, being about three and a half times the length of the hand in adults, and 

 in close apposition — -I. e. they are parallel and with scarcely any hiatus at the base when 

 closed. The mobile finger has a distinct basal tooth, and long hairs clothe the inner 

 edges of both fingers. The second chelate legs have the first and second carpal joints 

 long and subequal, the third and fourth short and subequal, and the fifth slightly 

 longer than either the third or the fourth. The ambulatory legs are slender and 

 unarmed. The apex of the telson is obtusely rounded, with the terminal lateral 

 spinules very minute. 



An adult male is 30 mm. long, the larger chelipede 27 mm. long, the hand 11 mm. 

 long, and the fingers 7 mm. ; the smaller chelipede is 29 mm. long, the hand 4 mm., 

 and the fingers 13 - 5 mm. In the female the chelipedes are slightly smaller. 



This species, originally collected by Daldorff in South India, has apparently been lost 

 sight of for nearly a hundred years. I think there can be little doubt that the species 

 just described is identical with that of Fabricius ; it completely agrees with his short 

 diagnosis, while the Japanese sj)ecies referred to A. malabaricus by De Haan and others 

 does not conform to the original description in one important respect — it exhibits a wide 

 gape or hiatus between the fingers of the smaller chela, which Fabricius expressly states 

 are parallel. De Haan's species is termed A. malabaricus in the description (Crust. 

 Japon. p. 177), but A. brevicristatus on the plate (tab. xlv. fig. 1), so that the latter 

 designation may be conveniently retained for it, provided that the earlier described 

 A. dlspai-, Randall, should not prove to be synonymous, as some writers have supposed. 

 In the British Museum is a specimen of our species from Pondicherry, bearing a 

 MS. name, "A. forceps" White. A. dolichodactylus, Ortmann, from Japan, is nearly 

 allied, and has both the hand sulci present, but it has a wide gape between the fingers 

 of the smaller chela, and the dactylus is apparently without a tooth ; it has also a distinct 

 tooth on the upper margin near the base of the larger dactylus, which is not seen in our 

 species. A. brevicristatus, De Haan, is easily distinguished by its larger hand, which is 

 ridged externally ; the inferior marginal sulcus is absent, and there is a wide gape 

 between the fingers of the smaller chela. 



Distribution. South India (Fabricius). 



250. Alpheus Edwakdsii (Audouin). 



A. Edwardsii (Aud.), Miers, 'Alert ' Crust, p. 281 (1884), ubi synon. 



Rameswaram, Tuticorin, and Muttuwartu Par (Thurston); Gulf of Martaban (Oates) ; 

 Kurachi (Brit Mus.). Very common on the reef at Rameswaram (J. B. R.). 



Distribution. Atlantic Region — from N. Carolina to Brazil, West Indies, Cape Verd 

 Is. Indo- Pacific Region — from the Red Sea and E. Africa to Japan, California, Samoa, 

 the Fijis, Tahiti, &c. 



