1 76 HOLMES. [VOL. ii. 



the claw touches one point after another, the web, as it is drawn 

 out, is fastened to different places. By moving back and forth 

 and rolling around during the weaving process, the animal 

 constructs its tubular dwelling. Several specimens from which 

 I clipped the claws from the first two pairs of pereopods were 

 kept for several days and did not construct a single nest. 



During the construction of the nest, Amphithoe will reach 

 out and draw in bits of algae and other objects that lie near 

 and incorporate them into its dwelling. In a few cases I have 

 seen long pieces of algae bitten in two and used for this pur- 

 pose. As Amphithoe lives largely on algae, this biting may 

 not have had any special reference to nest-building, but may 

 have been a manifestation of the ordinary reaction to food. 

 In Microdeutopus, Smith has observed that the excrement of 

 the animal is worked into the web ; but in Amphithoe, whose 

 nest-building habits seem to be very similar, no such process 

 could be observed. The excrement is passed out of the nest, 

 accumulations of it usually being observable near the two ends. 



Moulting. 



Amphithoe was found to shed its skin more often than was 

 anticipated. Most of the specimens I kept isolated as long as 

 a week moulted once, and out of four specimens in which I 

 have records of the dates of two successive moults of the same 

 individual the interval between moults in three cases was seven 

 days, and in the other case eight days. These specimens were 

 of the usual size. How rapidly moults occur in different periods 

 of the life history of this species I cannot say. 



The process of moulting in Amphithoe occurs in the same 

 manner as has been described in other species of amphipods. 

 The skin splits transversely along the line joining the head and 

 thorax, and on either side of the thorax is a longitudinal split 

 which occurs between the upper margins of the epimera and 

 the lower margins of the thoracic rings. This split may extend 

 along all the thoracic segments. The head and antennae are 

 pulled backward out of their investment and the posterior part 

 of the body is pulled out forwards, the old skin, after being 



