UPOGEBIA BEOUGHT TO LIGHT 185 



Upogebia, Leach. 1814, was founded to receive another 

 species discovered by the industrious Montagu, and de- 

 scribed by him in 1805 (1808) as Cancer Astacus stellatus. 

 The colour, he says, is 'yellowish-white, covered with 

 minute stellated orange spots, as it appears under a lens, 

 which give a predominance to the last.' In this genus 

 the first pair of legs are subequal and subchelate, the 

 other pairs being simple ; the second pair of pleopods is 

 like the three following pairs, with the margins strongly 

 ciliated ; the components of the swimming fan are broad- 

 ended. It seems to have escaped the notice of writers sub- 

 sequent to Leach that the earliest name of this genus was 

 Upogebia, which must therefore be retained in preference 

 to Leach's own alteration of it into Gebia, or Risso's Gebios. 

 Bell refers to the ' Edin. Encvcl., si. p. 400,' as an authority 



K' 1 */ 



for Gebia stellata, printing xi. by mistake for vii., and 

 probably guessing at Gebia by mistake for the actual 

 Upogebia. 



The type species was taken along with the type of 

 Callianassa. On the nearly allied American species de- 

 scribed by Say, Verrill and Smith make the following 

 observations : ' The Gebia qffinis is a crustacean somewhat 

 resembling a young lobster three or four inches in length. 

 It lives on muddy shores and digs deep burrows near low- 

 water mark, in the tenacious nmd or clay, especially where 

 there are decaying sea-weeds buried beneath the surface. 

 The burrows are roundish, half an inch to an inch in 

 diameter, very smooth within, and go down obliquely for 

 the distance of one or two feet, and then run off laterally 

 or downward, in almost every direction, to the depth of 

 two or three feet, and are usually quite crooked and wind- 

 ing. We have found them most abundant on the shore of 

 Great Egg Harbour, New Jersey, near Beesley's Point, 

 but they also occur at New Haven and Wood's Hole, &c. 

 This species is quite active; it swims rapidly and jumps 

 back energetically. It is eagerly devoured by such fishes 

 as are able to capture it. When living the colors are 

 quite elegant. Along the back there is a broad band of 

 mottled, reddish brown, which is contracted on the next to 



