284 CATALOGUE OF THE MALACOSTRACA 



Art.VI. — Catalogue of the Malacostracous Crustacea of South De- 

 von. By Edward Moore, M.D., F.LS., Secretary to the Ply- 

 mouth Institution. 1 



It would appear almost superfluous, after the labours of Mon- 

 tagu and Leach, to attempt to take up the subject of the 

 Malacostraca of Devonshire, as it constituted almost the 

 chief field of their discoveries ; nevertheless, in pursuance of 

 my original object, to attempt to collect as many illustrations 

 of the Fauna of this county as circumstances will allow, I 

 shall make no apology for endeavouring, "haud passibus 

 aequis," to follow in their steps: with this view I have sought 

 from all sources within my reach, to ascertain what species 

 have already been noticed, so as, by arranging them in the 

 following catalogue, to lay the foundation of a more perfect 

 acquaintance with some of the natural productions of our 

 coast. The existence of a very excellent collection in the 

 Museum of the Plymouth Institution, for which we are prin- 

 cipally indebted to Mr. Charles Prideaux, of Hatch Arundel, 

 near Kingsbridge, together with the advantages which I ob- 

 tain by a correspondence with him and with Mr. J. Couch, 

 of Polperro, will, I hope, render my catalogue not unaccept- 

 able to naturalists generally ; and as I observe that Mr. Bell 

 is shortly about to publish a work on British Malacostraca, 

 I am unwilling that in the county of Montagu and Leach the 

 subject should appear to be altogether neglected, possessing 

 as it does such remarkable advantages for the pursuit. Yet, 

 after all, it must be confessed that my paper will aim at no 

 higher pretensions than that of a Catalogue, as in most in- 

 stances it is almost impossible to obtain information beyond 

 the mere fact of the occurrence of many species, which, living 

 in deep water, all chance of obtaining any knowledge of their 

 habits is precluded. In such cases, although I have been 

 able to verify most of the observations of my predecessors, I 

 have preferred letting the fact of existence stand in their 

 names, merely referring to the works where their communica- 

 tions are to be found. There are, however, some species 

 which I have been unable to identify as Devon specimens, 

 from an inability to obtain access to works not procurable in 

 this remote part of the scientific world ; a deficiency, how- 

 ever, the less to be regretted, as it will most probably be sup- 

 plied in Mr. Bell's expected work on British Crabs, a publi- 



1 We received the present catalogue from Dr. Moore in the month of Sep- 

 tember, 1838 ; but owing to the number of communications in hand, we 

 have been unable to give it earlier insertion. — Ed. 



