75 



Falces: — Black, shining, well domed, forward. Teeth 

 of rastellum minute, shining, brown. Fang long, curved. 



Maxillae: — Warm, yellowish-brown, furnished over 

 greater part with regularly-set short dark spines, and sparsi 

 thin black hairs. Inner-margin clothed with dense long 

 silky hairs or reddish-brown colour. 



Labium : — About as broad as long, beset with about 20 

 short stout black spines in its central area. 



Sternum: — Pale yellowish - brown, slightly arched, 

 sparsely clothed with black hairs; broadly pyriform with 

 well-marked margin. Posterior sigilla, circular away from 

 margin. 



Abdomen : — Dark brown, short, as broad as long, densely 

 clothed with dark hairs, raised on papillary bases, giving the 

 surface a markedly shagreened appearance. No dorsal design 

 apparent. There are two well-marked circular lateral pits 

 near the anterior margin of the dorsum, which slightly over- 

 hangs the cephalo-thorax. Under-surface lighter towards 

 centre, clothed as on upper-surface with hairs arranged more 

 or less in transverse lines. Posterior lung sacs large, trans- 

 versely ovate, sparsely clothed with fine curved black hairs. 

 Spinnerets : — Concolourous, superior pair slightly longer 

 than inferior pair and about half as broad at the base. 



<S . Described from dried specimen. Cephalo-thorax, 

 4 mm. broad, 4 mm. long; abdomen, 4 mm. long. 



Cephalo-thorax: — More circular than in the female, 

 flatter, less elevated in front. 



Fovea: — Short, procurved, radial markings indistinct. 

 Eye: — Formula identical with that of female, but eye 

 area not bristled. Whole surface of thorax finely granular 

 instead of polished, well-marked sinuate marginal border. 



Legs: — More slender, lengths 4, 1, 2, 3; armature of 

 strong spines, clothing less marked, no tibial mypophysis. 



Palpi: — Brownish-black, no tibial apophysis, tibial joint 

 large and inflated, unarmed, and sparsely clothed. Bulb 

 concolourous, highly polished, stigma narrow, twisted, termin- 

 ating in filiform style. 



This is much the smallest species of Aganippe yet dis- 

 covered. Several females and one male were collected in 

 May, 1919, at American River, Kangaroo Island, South 

 Australia. American River, so called, is really a deep bay 

 nearly dividing Kangaroo Island in two. 



The species was found close to the main settlement in 

 rubbly clay banks, just above high-water mark, and at high 

 tides the nests must be very close to, if not in actual contact, 

 with the salt water. The nests are abundant and in places 



