Report on the zoological collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean ...

318 COLLECTIONS FROM MELANESIA,long joints, and is tipped with a pencil of hairs. The inferior antennaeslightly exceed in length the head and first five segments ofthe body ; the basal pednncular joint is very short, the second isslightly longer than the third joint. The first legs (gnathopoda)are very slender and feeble ; the merus short, unarmed ; the carpus,like the propus, convexly arcuated posteriorly and fringed vrithhairs ; dactyl rather less than half the length of the propus. Thesecond legs have the small and slender merus armed with a posteriorspine ; the carpus very short, transverse, and equalling the proximalend of the propus or palm in width ; the palms, in three specimensexamined, are large, similar, and subequal, longer than broad,rounded at base, very slightly broader at the distal extremity ; thedistal margin, against which the strong arcuate dactyl closes, has awide shallow notch above the postero-distal angle of the palm, andabove this three or four very obscure indications of teeth ; theinfero-distal angle is not defined by a tooth or spine. The third andfourth legs are very slender, with the dactyli about as long as thepreceding joints ; the three posterior legs are robust, with the basusjointsposteriorly serrated ; the fourth to sixth joints margined withlong hairs ; the merus-joints widening to the distal margin, which ispi'olonged into an anterior and posterior spine, the posterior spinebeing very large ; dactyli less than half the length of the precedingjoints. The fourth and fifth pairs of uropoda have the slender ramimargined with short stiff hairs ; the sixth pair have the rami subfoliaceous,rather narrow-ovate and not greatly elongated. Colour(in spirit) light brownish pink. Length (without antennae) a littleover 4 lines (9 millim.).Two specimens are in the collection from Albany Island, 3-4 fms.,and two from Port Denison, 4 fms. (jSTo. 122).In the dorsally bispinose postabdominal segments this speciesresembles McgcmKvra diemeiiensis, Haswell, from Tasmania, but difi"ersfrom this and all of the other Australian species of Moera and Megamceradescribed by that author (as it appears) in the form of thepalms of the second legs, not to speak of other characters. If ourspecimens should prove to be distinct from Megamoera suensis,which is only known to me by Mr. Haswell's very short diagnosis,I would propose to designate them ill. hasweUi.Mr. Thomson* has recently described a species, Megamoera fasciculata,from Dunedin Harbour and Christchurch, New Zealand, whichis distinguished from both this and the following species by thenon-emarginate unarmed palms of the first and second legs, the firstpair being " quite transverse,"