FAMILY GECARCINIDÆ.

1900. Geocarcinide, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. xix., pt. 2, pp. 283, 440.

The primary genus of this family is Leach's Gecarcinus, not, as the name is sometimes printed, Geocarcinus.

GEN. CARDISOMA, Latreille.

1825. Cardisoma, Latreille, Encycl. Méth., vol. x., p. 685.

1900. Cardiosoma, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. Ixix., pt. 2, p. 444.

CARDISOMA CARNIFEX (Herbst).

1796. Cancer carnifex, Herbst, Naturg. Krabben u. Krebse, vol. ii., pt. 6, p. 163, pl. 41, fig. 1.

1825. Cardisoma carnifex, Latreille, Encycl. Méth., vol. x., p. 685.

1900. Cardiosoma carnifex, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. lxix., pt. 2, p. 445.

1906. Cardiosoma carnifex, Nobili, Bull. Sci. France-Belgique, vol. xl., p. 156.

On this species Alcock (loc. cit.) gives a fund of valuable information. In the ample synonymy he includes Cancer hydromus [err. for hydrodromus], Herbst, with a reference to Herbst's work, immediately following that for C. carnifex, namely, p. 164, pl. 41, fig. 2. But according to Ortmann, Zool. Jahrb., vol. x., p. 302, 1897, the species in question should be called Potamon hydrodromum, and Miss M. J. Rathbun in her fine Monograph of the Potamonidæ, Nouv. Arch. du Muséum, vol. vi., p. 287, 1904, gives the name as Potamon (Potamon) hydrodromus (Herbst), with a full synonymy which appears to be conclusive. In 1894 Ortmann, Zool. Jahrb., vol. vii., p. 735, gives the species Cardisoma guanhumi, Latreille, with carnifex (Herbst) as a variety. But, if the two forms are specifically identical, it is Latreille's guanhumi that must take the subordinate position, since the employment of the name by the Marcgrave de Liebstad in 1648, being pre-Linnean, does not count in a question of priority. The carapace of the dried specimen from the Durban Museum is 70 mm. in greatest breadth, with a length of 65 mm. The specimen is a female, with the right cheliped much larger than the left.

OXYSTOMATA.

1841. Oxystomata, de Haan, Crust. Japonica, decas quinta,

p. 111.

1896. Oxystoma, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. lxv., pt. 2, p. 135.

1902. Oxystomata, Stebbing, South African Crustacea, pt. 2, p. 16.

FAMILY RANINIDE.

1896. Raninidæ, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. lxv., pt. 2, pp. 136, 288.

The last pair The antennæ not fold into

Alcock characterises the family as follows: "Carapace remarkably elongate, but not covering the abdominal terga, the first four or five of which lie exposed in the dorsal plane of the body. of legs also is raised in the dorsal plane of the body. are large. The antennules also are large, and do fossettes. The vasa deferentia protrude through the bases of the fifth pair of legs; the oviducts pierce the bases of the third pair of legs. The sternum is broad anteriorly, very narrow or linear posteriorly. The afferent branchial openings are not found in front of the bases of the chelipeds, and afferent currents probably reach the branchial chamber between the posterior border of the carapace and the bases of the last pair of legs. The external maxillipeds completely cover the buccal cavern, and their palp is concealed in repose their exopodite is but little longer than the ischium. The branchiæ are less than nine in number on either side."

GEN. RANINA, Lamarck.

1801. Ranina, Lamarck, Syst. Anim. sans vertèbres, p. 156.

Lamarck includes the genus in his section Cancri Macrouri. He defines it as having " Four short antennæ: the inner pair with the last joint bifid. The body oblong, wedge-shaped, truncate anteriorly; tail small, ciliated on the edges. Ten feet; the anterior pair ending in claws; the four hinder pairs ending in swimming-blades." He assigns to it the single species Ranina serrata, a new name for "C. Raninus, L., Rumph. Mus., t. 7, fig. T, V. Herbst, Cancr. t. 22, f. 1." Latreille regards the genus as the last of the Brachyura, and so leading on to the Macrura.

RANINA SCABRA (Fabricius).

1705. Cancer Raniformis, Rumph., Amboinsche Rariteit-Kamer, p. 13, pl. 7, figs. T, V.

1758. Cancer raninus, Linn., Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 625.

1775-1781-1793. Cancer raninus, Fabricius, Syst. Ent., p. 400; Mantissa, i., 314; Spec. Ins., i., 496; Ent. Syst., ii., 438. 1776. Hippa scabra, Fabricius, Mantissa, i., 330 (fide Herbst). 1789. Cancer raninus, Dixon, A Voyage round the World, Appendix, No. 1, p. 353, 2 pls. (unnumbered).

1791. Cancer raninus, Herbst, Naturg. Krabben u. Krebse, vol. i., pt. 2, p. 3, pl. 22, fig. 1.

1791. Cancer scaber, Herbst, loc. cit., p. 11.

1793. Hippa scabra, Fabricius, Ent. Syst., ii., 476.

1798. Albunea scabra, Fabricius, Suppl., Ent. Syst., p. 398.

1801. Ranina serrata, Lamarck, Syst. Anim. sans vertèbres, p. 156. 1802. Ranina serrata, Bosc, Hist. Nat. Crust., ii., p. 15, pl. 9, fig. 2. 1803. Ranina serrata, Latreille, Hist. Nat. Crust. et Ins., vol. vi., p. 133, pl. 51, fig. 1.

1825. Ranina dentata, Latreille, Encycl. Méth., vol. x., p. 268. 1825. Ranina serrata, Desmarest, Consid. gén. Crust., p. 140. 1837. Ranina dentata, Milne-Edwards, Hist. Nat. Crust., ii., 194, pl. 21, figs. 1-4.

1841. Ranina dentata, de Haan, Crust. Japonica, decas quinta, p. 139, pl. 34, pl. 35, figs. 1-4.

1893. Ranina scabra, Stebbing, Hist. Crust., Internat. Sci. Ser., p. 140.

vol. lxxiv.,

Those whose ears are titillated by tautology will no doubt prefer to call this species Ranina ranina (Linn.). Those who agree with our scientific forefathers in thinking that, if a specific name be promoted to generic rank, the species from which the name is borrowed must itself be renamed, should in the present instance accept the designation Ranina scabra (Fabricius). Its author, no doubt, was in the first instance unaware that his Cancer raninus and his Hippa scabra were one and the same species. Indeed, de Haan seems to have been the first writer to call explicit attention to this fact. Bosc, in 1802, noticed that Herbst's figure was borrowed from Dickson," who had represented it in his Voyage, pl. 15 and 16 of the French edition. De Haan gives a reference to Portlock et Dickson, Voyage Round the World, App. N. 1," as though they had used the name Albunea scabra. Yet Bosc, in taking note of Lamarck's Ranina serrata, evidently did not recognise its identity with Albunea scabra, since he says that the species was forgotten

66

by Fabricius in his Supplement, although it is found in the previous editions of his Entomology, under the Linnean name—that is, Cancer raninus." The suspicion arises that the latter was intentionally omitted, because Fabricius had discovered that between raninus and scabra there was no difference. Milne-Edwards adopts the name Ranina dentata, from Latreille, "Encyclop. t. x., p. 268," but this specific name was obviously due to a lapse of memory on Latreille's part, probably occasioned by the accident that Bosc, Latreille himself, and Desmarest translated Lamarck's serrata by the French words dentelée or dentée. Latreille himself, in his "Cours d'Entomologie," p. 368, 1831, says of his tribe Notopterygia : "This tribe is composed of the genus Ranina, of Lamarck, and has for type the albunea scabra of Fabricius, or the cancer raninus of Linné." R. cristata, Desjardins, "Ann. Soc. Entom., 1835," is explained by de Haan to be the male of the present species. The specimen sent from the Durban Museum was a comparatively small one, as the carapace measured only 75 mm. in length.

FAMILY CALAPPIDE.

1896. Calappida, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. lxv., pt. 2, pp. 136, 137.

Alcock gives the following character: "Carapace of the ordinary brachyurous shape. The afferent branchial openings are found in front of the bases of the chelipeds. The antennæ are small. The legs are normal in position. The vasa deferentia perforate the bases of the fifth pair of legs. The branchiæ are nine in number on either side. The external maxillipeds either completely cover the buccal cavern and have their palp hidden in repose (Matutina), or do not close the buccal cavern and have their palp always exposed (Calappine)."

GEN. CALAPPA, Fabricius.

1798. Calappa, Fabricius, Suppl. Ent. Syst., p. 345.

1896. Calappa, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. lxv., pt. 2, p. 139.

CALAPPA HEPATICA (Linn.).

1758. Cancer hepaticus, Linn., Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 630.

1785. Cancer hepaticus, Herbst, Naturg. Krabben u. Krebse, vol. i.,

pt. 6, p. 198.

1785. Cancer tuberculatus, Herbst, loc. cit., p. 204, pl. 13, fig. 78.

1798. Calappa tuberculata, Fabricius, Suppl. Ent. Syst., p. 345. 1825. Calappa tuberculata, Desmarest, Consid. gén. Crust., p. 109, pl. 10, fig. 1.

1837. Calappa hepatica, de Haan, Crust. Japonica, decas tertia, P. 70.

1843. Calappa tuberculata, Krauss, Südafrik. Crust., p. 52.

1896. Calappa hepatica, Alcock, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. lxv., pt. 2, p. 142.

The dried specimen from the Durban Museum has a carapace 45 mm. long and 70 mm. broad, the length being thus rather considerably more than half the extreme breadth. It agrees well in general character with Desmarest's figure, and in particular the right cheliped shows the curious external curved basal process of the finger, which Desmarest represents in his fig. 1a.

Krauss remarks that at low tide he found this species in little pits on the sand-banks of the Bay of Natal, in which it sits quite motionless with the chelipeds pressed close to the thorax; whether it maintains its peaceful position when the tide comes in he could not ascertain on account of its rare occurrence.

MACRURA ANOMALA.

Other members of this division have been discussed in these Marine Investigations, Crustacea, pt. 2, p. 17, 1902, and pt. 3, p. 68, 1905.

GALATHEIDEA.

1901. Galatheidea, Alcock, Catal. Indian Deep-Sea Crust., Macrura and Anomala, p. 235.

FAMILY GALATHEIDÆ.

1901. Galatheida, Alcock, loc. cit., p. 236.

1902. Galatheida, Stebbing, S.A. Crustacea, pt. 2, p. 29.

1902. Galatheida, Benedict, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. 243.

1905. Galatheida, MacGilchrist, Ann. Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, vol. xv.,

p. 245.