61 



The merus of these Walking legs bears a very few long hairs ; 

 on the carpus they are more numerous, especially on the dorsal 

 side, except in the third pereiopods where they are almost 

 absent. The distal half of the propodite bears tufts of long 

 hairs in all three pairs of appendages, and they are also present 

 on both surfaces of the dactyl. 



The fifth pereiopods are very slender and reduced. They 

 end in a chela, and the propodite and dactyl are covered with 

 long plumose hairs. 



In the first pleopods of the male the distal joint is expanded 

 into a broad membranous lamella with incurved edges. Its 

 inner surface bears a few short bristles. 



The second pleopods of the male have a long cylindrical 

 proximal joint, and a much shorter distal joint, which is greatly 

 expanded and flattened. This part is partially divided into two 

 lobes, both of which are fringed with stiff hairs. In one lobe 

 these are much shorter than in the other, and the same lobe has 

 its surface covered with short bristles. The opposite edge of 

 the distal joint is curled downwards, and bears short, slender 

 bristles on its inner edge. The lobe bearing the bristles represents 

 the appendix masculina, which has become fused with the 

 internal ramus of the pleopod. The external part is represented 

 by a small, blunt process at the extremity of the proximal 

 joint. 



In the female, pleopods are present on the third and fourth 

 abdominal segments only. They are very slender and serve 

 for the attachment of ova. The latter are large and never 

 numerous. One of the Helga specimens bears seven eggs and 

 the other twenty. In ovigerous females the telson is not folded 

 against the sixth abdominal segment, but is extended so that it 

 rests on the surface of the thoracic sternum. 



The uropods are similar to those of U. rubrovittatus. 



Size. — The largest specimen taken by the Helga is an 

 ovigerous female, measuring 27 mm. The chelipeds of the 

 same specimen are 45 mm. long. 



General Distribution. — The typical U. nitidus is confined to 

 West Indian waters. The var. concolor is, on the other hand, 

 widely spread. It has been found in many parts of the eastern 

 Atlantic (Mi ne-Edwards, Bouvier, Caullery), on the west 

 coasts of France, Spain, and Morocco, at the Azores and Cape 

 Verdes. Its most northerly record is from the south-west of 

 Iceland (Hansen). It is also recorded from South African 

 waters (Stebbing), and from the Laccadive Islands and Bay 

 of Bengal (Alcock). 



The species is represented in the Pacific Ocean by a var. 

 occidentalis , Faxon, which was taken by the Albatross in the 

 Gulf of Panama. 



Irish Distribution. — The species has previously been taken 

 in Irish waters, viz., by the Lord Bandon expedition in 



