124 The Irish Naturalist. [May, 



Go7ioplax the Angular Crab, is another remarkable form, but 

 one which is by no means common on these shores, though it 

 is among the known Irish species. The pincer-legs are here 

 enormously long, while the eyes again are very noticeable by 

 being placed on extremely long stalks. The pincers, further, 

 have the joints so situated that while food can be seized at a 

 considerable distance, it can also be conveyed to the mouth. 

 The male is in the habit of clashing together these great 

 nippers, in a noisy and threatening manner ; or at any rate 

 has been seen to do so when in captivity. The creatures are 

 said to live in burrow^s formed in hardened mud, which 

 dwelling-places they leave open at both ends. They would 

 seem to form a very favourite food for the Cod and such like 

 fishes, for they are not infrequently found in their stomachs. 



The form Corystes, which is rather more frequently taken on 

 our coast, belongs to a group which, in many ways certainly, 

 seems to carr}' us towards the hermit crabs. The head-shield 

 is considerably longer than broad, while a very striking feature 

 is the length and nature of the antennae. The nippers of the 

 male also are very long, but in the female the claws are very 

 ordinary in size. The back of this creature, at any rate to the 

 vivid imagination of some of the older observers, has con- 

 siderable resemblance to the human features, a fact which has 

 attracted to it far more attention than on that account it 

 deserves. Its popular title of the " Masked Crab" is due to 

 this, and it is very funny to see how in some of the figures by 

 the old writers this supposed resemblance has been purposely 

 accentuated. In its habits, nevertheless, Corystes is so 

 interesting as to well merit our further notice. 



It is a sand-burrowing form, and the last joints of its legs 

 have become elongated, sharp and claw-like, in connection 

 with this habit. When commencing operations the crab sits 

 upright on the surface of the sand, and by digging its legs in 

 deeper and deeper, pulls itself down, while the claws are 

 engaged in pushing at the sand in front to prevent it getting 

 into the mouth apparatus. When the body has completely 

 disappeared beneath the surface of the sand, the long antennae, 

 which still project, are generally seen to be rubbed against one 

 another, apparently to get rid of any sand sticking to them. 

 Now by placing the antennae side by side, the long hairs 

 fringing them interlock, and the crab is provided with a 



