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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XX, April 1966 
Alpheus alp he op sides Coutiere 
Alpheus alp he op sides Coutiere, 1905. Fauna 
and Geog. Maid, and Laccad. 2 (4): 901, 
pi. 83, fig. 40. 
LOCALITY: Samoa: 2 specimens from 
BAS 12. 
BREVIROSTRIS GROUP 
Alpheus rapax Fabricius 
Alpheus rapax Fabricius, 1798. Suppl. Ent. 
Syst. p. 405. 
LOCALITY: Tonga: 1 specimen from BT 14. 
DISCUSSION: This sole female agrees almost 
perfectly with the specimens from Hawaii and 
with the descriptions of the species, except 
that the rostrum reaches to the end of the 
first antennular article. However, in the 
Hawaiian specimens the rostrum was found to 
vary in length and this specimen does not 
greatly exceed the longest in that series. 
Alpheus savuensis de Man 
Alpheus savuensis de Man, 1908. Leyden 
Mus., Notes 30:110. 1911. Siboga Exped. 
39^(2): 392, pi. 20, fig. 90. 
LOCALITY: 2 specimens from BP 13. 
DISCUSSION: Our specimens agree very well 
with de Mans, except that the stylocerite is 
a little longer and it does have a definite spine 
which reaches to the end of the first antennular 
article. In de Man’s specimens the "acute point 
of stylocerite curved inward, [and was} not 
spiniform” (1911:392). 
EDWARDSI GROUP 
Alpheus coutierei de Man 
Alpheus coutierei de Man, 1909 A V. Ned. 
Dierk. Ver., Tijdschr. 11 (2): 107. 1911. 
Siboga Exped. 39a 1 (2 ) :409, pi. 22, 23, 
fig. 97. 
LOCALITIES: Fiji: 2 specimens from BF 19; 
4, BF 20. Tonga: 1 specimen from BT 18. 
Samoa: 9 specimens from BBS 10. 
DISCUSSION: In this species the rostrum is 
pronounced and triangular, broader than is 
usual for this group, and reaches at least to 
the middle of the first antennular article. Its 
lateral margins are a continuation of the front 
of the orbital hoods, and are at most set off by 
an indistinct triangle. The carina is sharp but 
variable in length, extending in some speci- 
mens to slightly posterior to the orbital hoods 
and in others to the anterior cardiac region. 
The ratio of the antennular articles in these 
16 specimens runs from 1: 1.8: 0.9 to 1: 2.0: 1. 
The outer margin of the squame is sharply 
curved and its spine reaches to the end of the 
last antennular article. 
The large chela is a little over 2 times as 
long as broad. Its merus, also more than 2 times 
as long as broad, has along its inferior internal 
margin a row of small tubercles and terminates 
in a small sharp preapical spine. The small 
chela is 3 times as long as broad, carries a 
row of tubercles along the inferior internal 
margin of the merus but lacks the terminal 
spine. The second legs are absent in all the 
specimens. The third legs, available in only 
three specimens, show a length-breadth ratio 
from 4.1 to 5.0. There is no spine on the 
inferior margin of the merus. 
These specimens agree well with de Man’s 
original description except for two charac- 
teristics. First are the tubercles on the inferior 
internal margin of the merus of the large and 
small chela, which de Man pictures as prom- 
inent (1911: Fig. 97 d-e), while those of our 
specimens are very small. Second, de Man 
states that the abdominal pleura are all produced 
into angles. In the males only the first pleura 
were cordiform and produced into obtuse 
angles, with the more posterior pleura being 
rounded; in the females all pleura were 
rounded. These differences may be of sys- 
tematic importance, but without a more ex- 
tensive group of specimens it is impossible to 
determine whether these are an individual 
variation or subspecific differences. 
A. coutierei was separated by de Man from 
A. bouvieri hululensis Coutiere on the basis 
of several characteristics which include length 
of the rostral carina. This group of specimens 
has shown the rostral carina to be variable 
in length, and A. coutierei appears to be the 
