r,)4 MR. S. K. MONTOOMEIIY ON DTRICCT 



about the middle of its length (text-fig. 1, b), opposite which is 

 the eyestalk. The border then turns almost at right angles 

 laterally and ends in a prominent tooth, covered with spinelets, 

 forming the post-ocular tooth of the young specimen (text-tig. 1 , c ). 



On the lateral border, behind this, another strong tooth bearing 

 spinelets occurs before the cervical groove is reached. Directly 

 posterior to the groove is another similar spine, which is not so 

 strongly marked. 



No subhepatic tooth can be discerned. 



In the adult there are two teeth on the antero-latei-al border ; 

 of these, the most anterior (text-fig. 2, c) must represent the 

 post-ocular tooth of the young. The adult post-ocular tooth 

 (text-fig. 2, 6) may represent either the protuberance on the 

 supra-orbital border of the young, opposite the eyestalk ; in this 

 case, the sub-hepatic tooth is a later development, and the prom- 

 inent anterior supra-orbital tooth of the young (text-fig. 1, a) 

 must become reduced to the weakly developed supra-orbital tooth 

 of the adult (text-fig. 2, d) ; or, alternatively, the -eye in the 

 adult may have passed even more anteriorly, so that the post-ocular 

 tooth of the adult would represent the anterior supra-orbital 

 tooth of the young. In this case, the adult supra-orbital tooth 

 would be a new strvicture, developed from the spines in the region, 

 and the sub-hepatic tooth may arise from the protuberance on the 

 supra-orbital border opposite tlie eyestalk. 



The chelae in the adult bear on the carpus a strongly marked 

 tooth (text-fig. 2, e) on the external angle, a small bluntly 

 rounded tooth (f) forming the extremity of the upper border, 

 and between them a very strong forwardly directed tooth ([/) 

 forming the most anterior part of the carpus. Posteriorly, on 

 the outer border of the carpus are two ridgelike teeth (A) standing 

 close together. In the young (text-fig. 3), the first three teeth 

 are represented by weakly developed protuberances, but no sign 

 can be distinguished of the two ridgelike teeth. 



The hand of the young is smooth, except for a few small spines 

 and hairs. The movable finger on its outer margin bears five 

 sharp teeth, excluding that at the tip (text-fig. 3) ; there is an 

 indication of a sixth tooth behind. The fixed finger bears four 

 sharp teeth, with a fifth poorly developed, again excluding the 

 apical tooth. In the adult, the teeth of the fingers are exactly 

 similar, with the exception that they are slightly blunter, and 

 that the posterior poorly developed teeth are slightly more 

 prominent. The hand of the adult is grooved on both sides towards 

 each finger to receive the thick tomentuni which in life covers the 

 carapace and the greater part of the limbs ; this grooving, though 

 typical in the Dromiids as a whole, is not pi'esent in the young. 



The only description of the development of a Dromiid which is 

 available is that of Dromia vulgaris by Cano * in 1894. 

 According to him, the crab is hatched from the egg in a zoea 

 stage, from which a metazoea develops ; this is followed by a 



* 0. C:nio, Atti del Accad. Sci. Soc. Reale Napoli, scr. ii. vol. vi. 1894, No. 2. 



pis. i. &ii. 



