1921 J Schmitt: The Marine Decapod Crustacea of California 211 



Key to the California Species of Pelia 



I. Male with fingers of chelae widely gaping; palm oblong, inflated; edges 

 obtuse and subparallel. 



tumida, p. 211. 



II. Male with fingers of chelae meeting throughout the extent of their inner edges, 

 except for a small narrow slit at the base; palm slender, more or less 

 elongated, not inflated, only slightly enlarged, edges tapering distally. 



clausa, p. 211. 



Pelia tumida (Lockington) 



Plate 34, figures 5 and 6 



Pisoides (?) tumidus Lockington, Proe. Calif. Acad. Sci., 7, 30, 67, 1877. 

 Pelia tumida Holmes, Occas. Papers Calif. Acad. Sci., 7, 35, 1900. 



Characters. — Carapace pyriform, rounded, tumid, covered with pubescence, but 

 entirely devoid of spines; there is a small rounded tubercle on the summit of the 

 gastric region, and a small rounded elevation on cardiac region; rostrum depressed, 

 elongated, nearly one-half the length of the carapace, bifurcated for about half 

 its length; horns narrow, diverging, and slightly upturned at the tip; no preorbital 

 spine, postorbital small; basal antennal joint considerably longer than wide and 

 devoid of teeth with the exception of one at the antero-external angle. Chelipeds 

 unarmed; hand oblong, inflated, edges obtuse and parallel; fingers widely gaping. 



Dimensions. — Type, male: length, 17 mm., width 11.4 mm. 



Type Locality. — San Diego, California. 



Distribution. — Santa Monica Bay, and Santa Catalina Island, California, to 

 Magdalena Bay, Lower California. 



Pelia clausa Rathbun 



Plate 34, figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 



Pelia paoifica Eathbun (not Milne Edwards), Proe. U. S. Nat. Mus., 16, 



90, 1893. 

 Pelia clausa Eathbun, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 35, 72, 1907. 



Characters. — Very similar to P. tumida, with rostral horns slightly shorter, 

 comparatively, and possibly a little more divergent, but differing markedly in 

 the character of the hands of the male. In the males of P. clausa the fingers of 

 the chelae meet throughout the extent of their inner edges, except for a small 

 narrow slit at the base ; the palm is slender and more or less elongated, only 

 slightly enlarged, with edges tapering distally. 



Dimensions. — Type, male: length of carapace 13.4 mm., width 8.5 mm. 



Type Locality. — Southern California. 



Distribution. — From Santa Monica Bay, California, to Magdalena Bay, Lower 

 California (Eathbun). 



Remarks. — The females of P. clausa are very similar to those of P. tumida. 

 The differences are more comparative than apparent. In P. clausa the fingers 

 and palm of the female are more slender, and the palm is less inflated. 



