531 



1.5 times longer than the 5th; the claw is small. Pereopods VII are short 

 and have an oval, broadened 2nd segment which is longer than wide; 

 the distal part of the leg is usually bent upward, the segments virgate, 

 and the 4th segment the largest. 



The pleon is about 2/3 the pereon in length, but massive and 

 higher than the latter. In the epimeral plates the posterior angle is 

 sometimes slightly stretched but always rounded at the tip. In uropods I 

 the basipodite is 2.5-3 times longer than its width and the margins barely 



428 bulged; the exopodite is twice as long and wide as the endopodite. 

 In uropods II the basipodite is narrower and terminates almost at the 

 same level [with basipodite of uropods I], with distal projecting angles; 

 the endopodite is 3/4 the length of the exopodite. The basipodite of 

 uropods III is short, narrowed at the base, and its width greater than its 

 length; the rami are longer than the basipodite and the exopodite slightly 

 longer than the endopodite. The tips of the rami of all the uropods extend 

 beyond the tip of the roundish telson. The margins of the rami and the 

 telson are finely denticulate. 



The first pair of gills is absent in males; in females the number 

 of gills is normal but the first two pairs are small. Only three pairs of 

 oostegites are present, the fourth pair totally undeveloped; functionally 

 this is partially compensated by the strong enlargement of the third pair, 

 which adjoins the last pair of gills. 



Distribution: Circumtropically distributed from 30° N up to 40° S; 

 found in the Mediterranean and Red seas. 



429 7. Genus Cranocephalus Bovallius, 1890 



Bovallius, 1890: 96; Pirlot, 1938: 370; Shoemaker, 1945a: 251; 

 Page, 1960: 72; Pillai, 1966: 184; Bowman and Gruner, 1973: 

 51.— Stebbingella Bovallius, 1890: 97. 



The body is massive and cylindrical and the pereon somewhat 

 bulged. The integument is compact and in larger specimens strongly 

 calcified (whence the name of the only species of the genus, scleroticus). 

 The head is large, variable in shape, about 1/4 the total body length, 

 sharply tapered at the base, and has a short but distinct neck. The rostrum 

 is broad at the base, approximately half the head in length, and has a weak 

 dorsal keel. In younger individuals the head is spherically bulged and the 

 rostrum is pointed, relatively short, and sharply tapers to a stretched tip. 



The pereon is longer than the pleon and its dorsal surface uneven 

 because the somites have shallow transverse furrows. The coxal plates are 

 fused with the pereon and the border of the fusion is noticeable. The first 

 two pereopods have subchelae. The 2nd segment of pereopods V-VII is 

 strongly broadened and has a series of cuticular pores on the surface. 

 Such pores are also present on the surface of the somites of the pereon 



