Description of a new crab from Dominica, West Indies

Vol. XIX, ^pp. 91-92 ^. June 4,

1906

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

\

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW ^CRAB FROM DOMINICA, WEST INDIES.

BY MARY

^J.

RATHBUX.

Bypermission of^theSecretary of the SmithsonianInstitution.

Among

^a

^number

^of crustaceans sent to the

United

States

National Museum _{by Mr.} A. Hyatt

Verrill, for

determination,

there is

a new

species of

Catometopa,

^{as follows:}

Pseudorhombila

octodentata _pp. nov.

Type.

—

_Male, dried. Dominica. A. Hyatt Verrill, collector, Cat. No.

32,690,U.S.National

Museum.

C/mr«c/ers.—Carapace very convex fore

and

_{aft, regions} indistinctly defined, surface closely setwith flattenedgranules. Front subtruncate,a V-shaped

median

notch, a rounded lobe at outer _angle. Antero-lateral teeth four_(orbitalangle excluded)^; thefirstsmall,separatedfromtheorbit

by

^a long straight interval^; second tooth widest, third

and

fourth most acute,the third thelarger,the fourth themostprojecting.

Left cheliped missing; right one _strong, covered with fine reticulated granulation^; merus _projecting little

beyond

^the body, astrong subtermi- naltooth above; carpus subquadrate, with a conspicuous tooth^at inner angle,

and

theoutermostportion tuberculate;

palm

nearly twice^aslong^as high, widening distally; dactylus ^as long ^aspalm; bothfingers strongly deflexed, not gaping,tipscurved

and

overlapping.

Ambulatory

^legs long

and

narrow; meral_{jointsgranulate}above

and

be- low,carpal jointsabove;

some

small superior spines

on

the merus. Dactyli withtwo_{fringesof long}hair.

The

second segment^ofthe

abdomen

leavesexposed^alargepiece of the sternum oneither side; thirdtofifth segments^fused.

Measurements.

—

Length, ^33.3; width, ^46.1; fronto-orbital width, ^24.7; widthoffront, 12.9; length ofpropodus ^ofright cheliped, 39; length of merusof thirdambulatoryleg, 26.5

mm.

Remarks.

—

This _species is very ^like P. quadridentata (Latreille) Milne Edwards,*a cotype ofwhich^isintheUnitedStatesNational

Museum,

^but the latter has a

more uneven

carapace, fewer antero-lateral teeth in the male,

and

_{a longer}postero-lateral margin.

*Hist. Nat. Crust.,II, 59, 1837.

20—Proc.Bioi,. Soc.Wash., Vol. XIX, ^1906. (91)