106 Mr. W. Thompson on the Crustacea of Ireland. 



in his ■ History of Cork' states that " we have of them in great plenty 

 from one to six or eight pounds weight on the south coast of Ire- 

 land." Rutty, in his ' Natural History of the County of Dublin,' 

 says of the Palinurus, " this, though common on their tables at 

 Cork, and a more delicate food than the lobster, is rare in Dublin, 

 though sometimes brought to our market from Munster, and some- 

 times from England." Mr. R. Ball informs me that it is still oc- 

 casionally brought to Dublin, and that it is at the present time rather 

 commonly taken at Youghal along with lobsters, and of the size no- 

 ticed by Leach — from. 18 to 20 inches in length of body. It is consi- 

 dered coarse food at the last-named place. A specimen obtained many 

 years ago at Magilligan, county Londonderry, is in Mr. Hyndman's 

 collection : one or two have subsequently been procured there by 

 the Ordnance Survey, as well as on the coast of Donegal. A speci- 

 men captured in a crab-pot at Carrickfergus is preserved in the Bel- 

 fast museum. 



Callianassa subterranea, Leach, Mai. pi. 32 ; Edw. Crust, t.ii. p. 309; 



Desm. p. 205. pi. 36. f. 2. 

 Cancer Astacus subterraneus, Mont. Linn. Trans, vol. ix. p. 88. pi. 3. 

 f. 1 & 2. 

 " March 25, 1839. — On examining the contents of the stomach of 

 several individuals of the Platessa Pola, which were taken early this 

 morning off Newcastle (county Down), two of the larger arms of this 

 species, so peculiar in form and still retaining their beautiful pink 

 colour, were detected*." — W. T. in 'Annals,' vol. v. p. 256. 



Astacus fluviatilis , Edw. Crust, t. ii. p. 330. 

 Craw-fish, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iv. p. 24. pi. 16. f. 1. 



Inhabits the rivers in many parts of Ireland, but is generally stated 

 to have been introduced to its recorded haunts from other quarters. 

 Thus, Rutty in his ' Natural History of Dublin' remarks, " It 

 has been sometimes found in this county, chiefly in gentlemen's 

 ponds, and lately in the river near Finglass ; but said to have been 

 brought thither from Munster." In an essay on the parish of Tem- 

 plepatrick, written in 1824, it was stated, that " the lady of the late 

 Arthur Upton introduced a stranger into our river called craw-fish. 

 It was put into the brook at Templepatrick ; it descended the Six- 

 mile water, where it found a situation perfectly suited to its na- 

 ture, deep water and banks of loam, which they excavate as lodgings 

 for themselves and their young ; they have increased to a very great 

 multitude." This locality is about ten miles distant from Belfast. 

 The date of the introduction of the cray-fish unfortunately is not 

 given, nor are we informed whence they were brought. About thirty 

 years before the essay was written, as I am informed by a venerable 

 friend, cray-fish were plentiful some miles farther up the river than 



* A species named " Thalassina Montagui " appears as Irish in Mr. J. 

 V. Thompson's catalogue. It may be presumed to have been considered by 

 that gentleman a new species, although "n.d." is not prefixed to it as in 

 other cases of non-descripts. Only one species of this genus, — the T. scor- 

 pioides, a native of Chili, — is noticed in M. Edwards's Hist, des Crustaces 

 (t.ii. p. 316). 



