ACANTHEPHYRA AGASSIZII. 161 



Acanthephyra agassizii Smith? 



IMiersia agassizii Smith, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zuol., X. 67, Plate XL Fig. 5-7, Plate XII. Fig. 1-4, 1SS2. 

 "i Acanthephyra agassizii Smitu, Ann. Rep. U. S. FisL Comm. forlS82, p. 372, Plato VIII. Fig. I, ISSI; 

 id. for 1SS5, p. 667, Plate XV. Fig. 1, 6, U, 7, Plate XVI. Fig. 2, 1886. 



Station 3383. 1832 fathoms. 1 fem. ovig. 

 " 3398. 1573 " 1 " " 



In the type specimen of .4. agassizii the rostrum, although broken off at 

 the tip, is as long as the rest of the carapace, and is armed with eight teeth 

 above, and five below ; the carina of the fourth abdominal segment is not 

 prolonged to a spine or tooth posteriorly ; the telson is armed with four pairs 

 of spines on the dorsal side in front of the terminal spines. In the two 

 specimens whicli I have doubtfully referred to this species, the rostra fall 

 short of the length of the carapace by one fifth, and one sixth the length of 

 the latter; the formula for the rostral teeth of one is |, of the other | ; the 

 carina of the fourth abdominal segment is produced into a sharp tooth pos- 

 teriorly, as in A. sangiiiuea Wood-Mason ; * the telson bears three pairs of 

 dorsal spines. The branchiostegal spine, moreover, is smaller than in the 

 type,t and the enlarged portion of the external antennular flagellum is 

 shorter. In other respects my specimens agree well with the type. In 

 specimens subsequently referred to A. ac/assizii by Smith, the rostrum is even 

 shorter than in my specimens, and the telson is armed with as many as nine 

 pairs of dorsal spines, thus closely resembling A. sica Bate (1888). Bate 

 considers A. ar/assisii Smith to be synonymous with A. pwpwca A. M. Edw.,:}: 

 obtained by the " Travailleur " off the coast of Portugal ; but in the latter 

 species the rostrum is longer than in A. agassizii, and the second abdominal 

 segment is not carinated dorsally according to Milne Edwards's figure § and 

 Bate's diagnosis. 



The form of the eye in A. agassizii is not described by Professor Smith, 

 and in his type specimen of this species the eyes are so much mutilated that 

 their true form cannot be satisfactorily determined. In the specimens re- 

 ferred to A. agassizii in Smith's later papers, — specimens which differ from 

 the type, as above indicated, — there is an oblong black " ocellus," barely 



* Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 6tl. Ser., IX. 358, Fig. 1, 1892 ; 111. Zool. H. M. I. M. S. " Investigator," 

 Crustacea, Plate III. Fig. 3, 1892. 



t In this respect also like A. sanguinea Wood-Mason. 

 % Comptes Rendus, XCIIL, 935, 1881. 



§ Recueil de Figures de Cnistaces nouv. ou peu connus, 1*'= Livraisou, 1833. 



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