A. E. VerriU Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. 371 



sapidus M. J. Rathbun, The Genus Callinectes, Proc. U. S. Nat. 



Mus., xviii, p. 352, pi. xii, pi. xxiv, fig. 1, pi. xxv, fig. 1, pi. xxvi, fig. 1, 



pi. xvii, fig. 1 (details), pp. 368-373 (habits), 1896; Amer. Naturalist, 



xxxiv, p. 140, fig. 3, 1900. 

 W. P. Hay, The Life History of the Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidns). Appen- 



dix to Annual Report of the Com. of Fisheries for 1904, pp. 397-413, 4 



plates, 1905 (habits ; moulting, breeding, etc.). 

 Callinectrs hastatus Ordway, op. cit., p. 568. S. I. Smith, these Trans., vol. 



v, p. 33: Report Invert. Vineyard Sound, etc., ( p. 548. VerriU, Rep. 



Invert, Vineyard Sound, pp. 367, 468, 1873 (habits). R. Rathbun, Fisheries 



and Fishery Industries of the U. States, Crustacea, Part V, sec. i, pp. 775- 



778, pi. 267 (habits and statistics), 1884 ; sect, v, vol. ii, pp. 629-648, 1887. 

 Paulmier, F. C., Higher Crustacea of New York City, New York State Muse- 



um, Bulletin 91, Zoology 12, p. 142, fig. 11, 1905. 



FIGURES 22a, 23a, 24. PLATE XVII, FIGURE 2. 



In this species the adult males are handsomely marked by bright 

 blue on the chelipeds, legs, and margins of the carapace, the greater 

 part of the dorsal surface of the carapace being green. In the adult 

 female a dull red usually takes the place of the blue of the male. 



According to observations first made on this crab by Professor 

 Louis Agassiz, about 1860, it has interesting courting habits.* 



Probably the bright blue ornamentation of the male is due to sexual 

 selection, for the male, during his courtship, stands on the tips of his 

 legs, and " dances " or struts in front of the female, with his claws 

 outspread to display his charms. The rival males, also, are belliger- 

 ent at such times. 



An account of the courting and pairing habits was quoted by 

 Miss Rathbun (The Genus Callinectes, p. 369) from a long letter on 

 the habits of this crab by Hon. John D. Mitchell, of Victoria, Texas, 

 which agrees closely with the account by Agassiz. 



He states that the sexually mature females are in their third sum- 

 mer. Meeting one of these, the adult male " will elevate himself on 

 the tips of his legs, getting as high from the ground as possible, 

 extend his claws to their widest extent, supporting himself with his 

 paddles, and in this position he will strut slowly and pompously in 

 front of her. Should another male appear, a battle ensues. The 

 sexual act lasts from three to six hours." 



* Professor Agassiz then described in detail these phenomena and other habits 

 of this crab to me and several of my classmates, his special students. He 

 stated that they were new observations that he had just made on the south 

 coast of New England, and in which he was then very much interested. I 

 wrote out his observations in a diary that I kept at that time and preserved for 

 many years. I am not aware that he ever published these observations. 



