THE CALLING CRAB 



89 



ing for the return of the tide,' because, when the creature 

 is left on the dry shore, by the movement of its claws it 

 seems to be appealing to the waves to come back again. 

 The specific title of Gelasimus vocans (Linn.), and the trivial 



Fig- 4. Gelasimus arcuatus, de Haan, a male specimen, and pleon of the male detached. 



[DeHaan.] 



name, the calling crab, refer to the like action. Of the 

 customs of an American species the following account is 

 given by Professors Verrill and S. I. Smith : 



' On sandy beaches near high-water mark, especially 

 where the sand is rather compact and somewhat sheltered, 

 one of the "fiddler-crabs," Gelasimus pugilator [Latreille], 



