Carcinological Fauna of India. 229 



Doclea gracilipes, Stimpson. 



Doclea gracilipes, Stimpson, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci., Philad., 1857, p. 216. 

 Doclea sp. De Man, Mergui Crust., Jonrn. Linn. Soc, Zool., XXII. 1888, 

 p. 13. 



Doclea andersoni, De Man, op. cit., torn, cit., p. 11, pi. i. fig. 1. 



Carapace discoidal, covered, as are also the legs as far only as the 

 end of their merus or carpus, with a short close fur. 



Rostrum, measured from the posterior orbital border, sometimes as 

 long as broad and about one-seventh the length of the carapace, some- 

 times twice as long as broad and about one-fourth the length of the 

 carapace ; deeply cleft, the spines sometimes convergent, sometimes al- 

 most in contact throughout, sometimes slightly divergent. 



Besides a line of four teeth, situated one at the end of the basal 

 antennal joint, one at the angle of the buccal frame, and one behind each 

 of these, the antero-lateral margin is armed with four acute curved claw- 

 like spines, the posterior of which is typically two-fifths to one- third the 

 breadth of the carapace in length, but may sometimes be only one-eighth 

 the breadth of the carapace in length ; while the three anterior are ty- 

 pically about one-sixth the breadth of the carapace in length, but may 

 sometimes be merely tubercles. 



In the middle of the posterior border is a great spine as large as the 

 last spine of the antero-lateral series. 



In the middle line of the carapace is a series of tubercles and spines 

 which are very variable in size : typically only two are prominent, 

 and these have the form of upstanding spines, one in the gastric 

 region, the other — much larger — in the cardiac region. Both of them, 

 however, may be reduced to tubercles, while in front of them and also 

 between them there may or may not be a line of tubercles. 



Except for this median line of elevations, the dorsum of the denuded 

 carapace is either smooth, or has only a line of extremely indistinct 

 elevations passing on either side obliquely from near the front towards 

 the great lateral epibranchial spine. 



The chelipeds in the female are rather shorter than the carapace : 

 in the male they are rather longer than the carapace, and in the adult 

 male have the palms swollen. 



The 2nd pair of trunk-legs are between three and four times the 

 length of the carapace measured from the base of the rostrum to the 

 base of the great median posterior spine. 



The two spines on the sternum between the bases of the second 

 pair of legs may be distinct or indistinct. 



The abdomen consists of seven distinct segments in both sexes. 

 75 



