CEUSTACEA OF THE MEBGUI ARCHIPELAaO. 273 



the larger hand is armed at its distal end, above the articulation 

 of the mobile finger, with a short acute spine. The first joint of 

 the carpopodite of the second legs is even a little longer than the 

 four other joints together, the second, third, and fourth joints are 

 very short and of equal length, the fifth is nearly as long as 

 the third and the fourth tahen together ; the hands are scarcely 

 longer than the last two joints of the carpopodite taken together, 

 the palm being a little shorter thau the fi.ngers and a little shorter 

 also than the terminal joint of the wrist. The inferior margins 

 of the meropodites of the legs of the third pair are armed with 

 four or five spinules along their distal halves; the meropodites 

 also of the legs of the fourth pair present one to three similar 

 spinules in the middle of their inferior margins, but the meropo- 

 dites of the last pair of legs are unarmed. The dactylopodites 

 of the legs of the last three pairs are biunguiculate, the acute 

 claw being armed on its upper or external margin with a second, 

 much smaller claw. 



Alplieus minor, var. neptunus, has been hitherto collected in 

 Japanese and Chinese Seas (Island of Ousima, Hongkong), 

 in the Sooloo Sea (Daua), at Port Jackson (Eastern Australia), 

 in the E-ed Sea (Suez), and at Ceylon, so that this variety 

 appears to be distributed throughout the Oriental Seas. 



151 h. Alpheus minoe, var. BiuisrauicuLATA, Stimps. 



Alpheus biunguiculatus, Stimpson, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1860, 

 p. 31. 



Three other specimens collected at Sullivan Island are doubtless 

 examples of Alpheus Uunguiculatus, Stimps., viz. : an adult ova- 

 bearing female and two small males. The female specimen is 

 21 millim. long. In these specimens the claws of the last three 

 pairs of legs are biunguiculate, as in A. neptunus, but differ from 

 it in the smaller claw being placed on the under or internal side of 

 the larger, and by the inferior margins of the meropodites of the 

 legs of the third and fourth pairs being unarmed. The other 

 characters of ^. hiunguiciilatus mentioned by Stimpson are wholly 

 absent in these specimens or only partially present. Thus the 

 upper margin of the palm of the larger hand in two speci- 

 mens (the adult female and one male) is unarmed, but in the 

 third specimen (the small male) it is armed at its distal end with 

 a spine similar to that found in A. neptunus. The joints of 



LINN. JOUKN. ZOOLOGT,YOL. XXII. 18 



