(FIGURE 10. Coxal lamella of the penultimate pair of feet of the male
(a), and coxal lamella, with the three following joints of the same pair
of feet of the female (b) of Melita Messalina, magnified 45 diam.

FIGURE 11. Coxal lamella of the same pair of feet of the female of M.
insatiabilis.)

As the males of several species of Melita are distinguished by the
powerful unpaired clasp-forceps, the females of some other species of
the same genus are equally distinguished from all other Amphipoda by the
circumstance that in them a peculiar apparatus is developed which
facilitates their being held by the male. The coxal lamellae of the
penultimate pair of feet are produced into hook-like processes, of which
the male lays hold with the hands of the first pair of feet. The two
species in which I am acquainted with this structure are amongst the
most salacious animals of their order, even females which are laden with
eggs in all stages of development, not unfrequently have their males
upon their backs. The two species are nearly allied to Melita palmata
Leach (Gammarus Dugesii, Edw.), which is widely distributed on the
European coasts, and has been frequently investigated; unfortunately,
however, I can find no information as to whether the females of this or
any other European species possess a similar contrivance. In M. exilii
all the coxal lamellae are of the ordinary formation. Nevertheless, be
this as it will, whether they exist in two or in twenty species, the
occurrence of these peculiar hook-like processes is certainly very
limited.

Now our two species live sheltered beneath slightly tilted stones in the
neighbourhood of the shore: one of them, Melita Messalina, so high that