34 CRUSTACEA. 



Ocypode, Fabr. 



Eyes extending into the greater part of the length of their pedicles, 

 or claviform; third joint of the external foot-jaws forming a long 

 square; tail of the males very narrow, and the last joint an elongated 

 triangle; that of the females is oval. 



The claws are nearly similar, strong, but short, and the forceps 

 shaped like a reversed heart. Agreeably to the indication afforded 

 by their generic name, these Crustacea run with great swiftness, 

 which indeed is such, that a horse can scarcely overtake them, 

 whence the name of Eques, given to them by the older naturalists. 

 They are now sometimes termed Land-Crabs, and occasionally, na- 

 turalists have confounded them with the Gecarcini, under the gene- 

 ral denomination of Tourlouroux. The Ocypodes, during the day, 

 remain in the holes or burrows they have excavated in the sand, near 

 the sea-shore, and quit them after sun-set. 



Ocyph. eques; Cancer cursor, L. ; Cancer eques, Bel.; Ocyph. 

 ippeus, Oliv., Voy. dans l'Emp. Ottom., II, xxx, 1. Distin- 

 guished from all the others by the bundle of hairs, which termi- 

 nate the ocular pedicles. It inhabits the coast of Syria, that of 

 Africa bordering on the Mediterranean, and is even found at 

 Cape de Verd. In the 



Ocyp. cerathophthalmus; Cancer cerathopt., Pall., Spic. Zool., 

 fasc. IX, v, 2^8, the superior extremity of these pedicles ex- 

 tends beyond the eyes for more than a third of their whole 

 length, in a conical and simple point. The forceps are codi- 

 form, very rough, and their cutting edge dentated. From the 

 East Indies. 

 In others the pedicles are terminated by the eyes forming a sort 

 of club. Some from the eastern continent and all those of the 

 western world are thus formed, but the latter possess a peculiar cha- 

 racter, which indicates more aquatic habits, or that they swim with 

 more facility: their feet are smoother, flatter, and furnished with a 

 fringe of hairs. Such is the O. blanc, Bosc. Hist. Nat. des Crust., 

 I, 1. The Cumuru of Marcgrave belongs to this division(l). 



In classing the collection of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, we 



Roy- des Sc, by M. de Blainville, this inequality of the forceps is peculiar to the 

 males, at least such was the case in all the numerous specimens examined by him 

 in his voyage to the East Indies. 



(1) For the Ocypodes of the western continent, see the observations of M. 

 Say, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. His Ocyp. reticulatus is a Grapsus. Consult, 

 also, the article Ocypode, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., and the work of M. Desma- 

 rest. 



