38 Bern'uc P. Bishop Mitseum — BuUctin 



DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF CRABS 

 FROM PALMYRA ISLAND 



Bv Mary J. Ratiibix 



Maldivia palmyrensis, sp. no v. 



Type. — Female; Palmyra Island: C. M. Cooke, collector: type-speci- 

 men in Bishop Museum, No. 312. 



Carapace transversely oval, very convex from side to side, less so from 

 front to back, the margin of the front visible in dorsal view. Indications 

 of regions almost absent. Frontal and antero-lateral regions granulate. 

 Front thin, edge granulate, nearly straight, outer corners rounded off, a 

 slight median emargination, prolonged backward in a short groove. Of 

 the 4 antero-lateral spinules, including that at the orbital angle, the second 

 and third each have smaller spinules on their outer margins. 



Chelipeds very unequal : merus short, armed with a longish spine at 

 the distal end of the inner margin, two other, smaller, distal spines above, 

 a subdistal spine on the upper margin ; carpus, and upper and greater 

 part of outer surface of manus armed with short, sharp, conical spines ; 

 the carpus has a large spine at the inner angle, a smaller marginal spine 

 above and nearer the distal end. The spines of the manus are seriate, 

 and for the most part arranged in alternating rows of large and small 

 spines. The fingers are similar in the two chelae, white in the preserved 

 specimen, bent slightly downward, their prehensile edges armed with a 

 few unequal teeth which meet when the fingers are closed, while the tips 

 cross. The roughness of the palms is continued on the dactyle in three 

 superior rows of spines, reaching nearly half the length in the major chela, 

 but more than half in the minor chela. The ambulatory legs are furnished 

 with fine hairs, very scanty except on the dactylus ; this terminates in a 

 long, transparent, horny tip; besides the hairs, the segment is armed with a 

 number of horny bristles ; of these, two long stout ones are attached side 

 by side over the nail and overlap the nail, reaching at least half way down 

 its dorsal face ; a few short bristles are further back, while two longi- 

 tudinal rows of about four weak bristles each are on the lower or concave 

 side of the dactylus. The armature would be very useful in clinging to 

 algae or branching coelenterates. 



Length of carapace of type female 3 mm. width 4.3 mm. 



The genus Maldivia" contains two earlier species, M. syiitbiotica 

 Borradaile,^* the type species, found on a white gorgonian in 8 fathoms 



"Borraclaile, I''auiKi and (jcogr. Maldivc aiul Laccadive .Xrcli.. vol. 1. pari 3, 

 1902, p. 269. 



"'0^ c-it.. p. 270, te.xt-fig. 60. 



