More Friends in Armor 



247 



habits of the fiddler crab, some of the sponjre-bearinjT 

 females spend quite as much of their time in the water 

 of the neighboring pools as under the archway of their 



ovens. 



With our captives installed in two-quart jars, half 

 filled with sea water and a layer of clean sand on the 

 bottom, we avxait developments. Each tank holds one 



FEMALE FIDDLER CRAB. THE DARK MASS ON HER ABDOMEN IS A BROOD OF EGGS 



AND IS KNOWN AS THE "SPONGE." 



female, and her jar is kept nice and fresh by the 

 addition of a frond of sea lettuce. A cool, well-lighted 

 place at a north wnndow insures results more nearly 

 approaching those under natural conditions. In the 

 meantime a closer inspection of the animals may be 

 profitable. 



It w^as pointed out in an earlier chapter that the true 

 crabs, or brachyurans, in contradistinction to the lob- 



