-J ">' A. E. Verrill Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. 



Several Buries of crabs and shrimps babitjaally live among 



ing SdrgaSSUm, or attached to floating driftxv <><><1. Tliis is the case 

 especially xvith rininx //>/'/////>/*. /'/7////^x >'<////, and some others. 

 That they have- migrated to Bermuda in this uay is very evident, 

 for they do -o constantly, day Ity day, at tlie present time. 



But the majority of the vp,- ( -ie< coiiiinoii to Bermuda and the 

 Wes,t Indies do not ha\enrh habits, and must have migrated north- 

 ward in the five-s\\ iniining larval stages. The direction of tin- <iulf 

 Si ream and pre\ ailing wind currents are favorable for the transpor- 

 tation of free-swimming animals from the Bahamas, Cuba, etc., to 

 the Bermudas. 



On the other hand, xery few if any strictly Ka-t American species 

 have established themselves in the Bermudas, notwithstanding the 

 constant passage of vessels in that direction for nearly three hundred 

 vears. Perhaps the tempera! lire of the(iulf Stream is too high to 

 allow such specie^ to lie carried across it, or they may not be able to 

 endure the summer temperature of the Bermuda waters. 



There are, likewise, no I>ecap<>d species of Km-opean or Mediter- 

 ranean origin known in the Bermuda fauna, though such are known 

 to occur in Other orders, especially in those groups that habitually 

 cling 1<> the foul bottoms of \ eSSels. 



Tlie chances of many species bein^ introduced into IJermuda 

 waters l>v this means have been unusually .u'ood, for the ^I'eat dry 

 dock has existed at the naval station for many years. And lonjjf 

 before that, even from the first settlement, the sheltered harbors and 

 beaches of Ucrmiida have been fax orite places lor the beaching of 

 \e-sols to clean their bottoms. 



It would be of uTeal scientific interest, as \\ell as evident, eco- 

 nomical benefit, to experiment with the introduction of edible Mast 

 American and West Indian cnMacea that do not now exist at the 

 Bermudas. Among those that might succeed are the large Southed! 

 Rock Crab (J/< ////'/" mercenaries); the West Indian Rock Crab 

 Ciii-fiillKfi i-<n-t///i,iitx); the southern variety of the Edible Blue Crab 

 (Callinectes saj>'<?t/x), and many others. Probably their fertilized 

 eggs could be transported far more easily than the adults, and in 

 vastly greater numbers. With suitable arrangements at the new 

 Bermuda Biological Station, such eggs could easily be hatched and 

 the young liberated in great numbers, in suitable places. 



It would probably be useless to attempt to introduce those species 

 that are restricted to our coast north of Cape Hatteras, such as the 

 common lobster, but there seems to be no reason why any species 



