154 pennant's ebalia. 



and the filtered fluid, now deprived of its oxjgen, is 

 forcibly expelled at the anal groove. Well may the 

 adoring Psalmist include among '' the riches " of God, 

 the '' things creeping innumerable, both small and 

 great beasts," wherewith " this great and wide sea " 

 is filled ! * 



pennant's ebalia. 



A female of this quaint little Crab {Ebalia Pen- 

 nantii) was obtained, the knobbed carapace of which 

 carries a specimen of that curious pellucid Bryozoon, 

 Alcyonidium gelatinoswn. This is a fruit-like body, 

 about an inch in length, nearly cylindrical, with the 

 tip rounded, and the base diminished to a footstalk 

 springing from a minute point. The beautiful bell- 

 like Polypes are projecting by hundreds from every 

 part of the surface, distinctly perceptible even with 

 the naked eye. Though this parasitic appendage 

 springs from the very centre of the tuberculous cross 

 on the back of the Crab, it projects forward over the 

 head, a position which has relation to the burrowing 

 habits of this little Crustacean. 



The latter is inert, folding its legs on itself when 

 touched, and remaining motionless for some time. 

 It buries itself in the gravel, descending backwards : 

 this is a somewhat slow process, suited to its usual 

 phlegmatic habit. It brings its hindmost pairs of feet 

 on each side together; then thrusting down their 

 united points, opens and expands them, forcing apart 

 the gravel : at the same moment the posterior part of 

 the body is brought down into the hollow thus made, 



* Psalm civ. 24, 25. 



