160 Records of the Indian Museum. [Voi,. XXIV > 



point and behind it a semicircular excavation followed by a broad 

 lobe with small denticulations on its summit. The smaller limb is 

 closely similar, but the teeth on the fingers are less well developed. 



The three posterior pairs of peraeopods are short and stout. 

 The third reach the tip of the rostrum, the fifth the end of the 

 merus of the first pair. The propodites bear some fine hairs but 

 are without spinules on their posterior margins. In the third pair 

 the merus is about 6 times and the propodus about 7 times as long 

 as wide. The dactylus (text-fig. 2$d) is broad and is less than 

 a quarter the length of the propodus. The accessory dactylar 

 spine is greatly reduced. 



The sixth abdominal somite is about 1*5 times the length of 

 the fifth. The anterior pair of spinules on the dorsum of the 

 telson is placed at about the middle of the telson length, and the 

 posterior pair midway between it and the apex. The terminal 

 spines are short. 



The single individual in the collection is an adult male about 

 21 mm. in length. 



When living, the specimen was most gorgeously pigmented. 

 The general colour was bright red ; on the carapace there was 

 a very large transverse diamond-shaped patch of pale fawn with 

 closely aggregated cream spots, the whole patch circumscribed by 

 deep red. The rostrum was red with minute spots of white and 

 of white ringed with black. On each abdominal somite there was 

 a transverse pale dorsal patch similar to that on the carapace, the 

 patches on adjacent somites being confluent with one another. 

 The last abdominal somite and telson were entirely pale fawn with 

 cream-coloured spots. The "cornea was red and the eyestalks red 

 with whitish spots. The antennal scale was pale red, similarly 

 spotted, and with the tip broadly margined with deep purple. 

 The first two pairs of legs were red with the distal ends of the 

 merus and carpus and the whole of the fingers purple. The last 

 three legs were entirely rich purple, while the pleopods were red. 



Periclimenes rex seems to hold an isolated position in the sub- 

 genus, but is perhaps distantly related to the P. laccadivensis 

 section. By the form and armature of the rostrum it is readily 

 distinguished from all other known forms. 



C 402/1. Port Blair, Andamans, 8 fms. S. Kemp, March, One male, 



1921. Type. 



The specimen, together with a single chela of a second indivi- 

 dual, was found in Ross Channel, near the southern end. In the 

 same haul of the net fragments of a red sponge with white tips 

 were taken, the similarity in colouration suggesting that the prawn 

 and the sponge were possibly associated with one another. 



Periclimenes (Periclimenes) investigatoris, sp. nov. 



(Plate V, fig. 6.) 

 A species of rather stout build. The rostrum is deep; it 

 extends a little beyond the end of the antennular peduncle but 



