102 SEA-SHORE LIFE 



late in the summer. It is mottled in brown and dull yellow, and 

 matches its surroundings so perfectly when upon the gulf- weed, that 

 its discovery is practically impossible unless the weed be taken 

 from the water and shaken. The crab has paddle-shaped posterior 

 legs, and is a good swimmer, its side-legs being long and oar-like, 

 and fringed with delicate hairs. It becomes about one inch long 

 and one and three-quarters wide. A spine projects from each side 

 of the shell, and the pincers, although weak, are sharp. 



Another little square-shaped crab called Plmies minntusYwes 

 also among the gulf weed, and legend has it that when Columbus 

 first saw this crab he reassured his timorous crew by stating that 

 land conld not be far away. The crab, however, never visits the 

 land, but spends its entire life upon the ocean. 



The Mud Crabs, ( Panoi^eus, Fig. 77, iMcje 109). These are 

 small dark olive-brown crabs with large powerfid claws and with 

 sharp pointed legs adapted to crawling. They are abundant in 

 Long Island Sound, but extend from the tropics to Massachusetts 

 Bay. The name "mud crab" is indicative of their fondness for 

 muddy shores, where they live under stones or in burrows within 

 muddy banks or marshes. There are several closely allied species 

 which have been carefully separated and described by J. E. Bene- 

 dict and Mary J. Rathbun in "Proceedings of the U. S. National 

 Museum," Vol. XIV, 1891, p. 355. Pis. XIX-XXIV. 



A conimen mud crab of Long Island Sound is Panopeus herh- 

 stii, Fig. 77, which ranges from Brazil to Rhode Island. It lives 

 within burrows in moist, muddy banks or under stones on muddy 

 bottoms. It becomes one and one-half inches broad, and is dull 

 brown-green in color. A smaller species with a flat-backed 

 shell, only about three-quarters of an inch in ^\idth, is Panopeus de- 

 pressiis. It may also be distinguished by its black-colored nippers. 



The Rock Crab, (Cancer irroratxis, Fig. 71), is the common crab 

 of the New England coast north of Cape Cod, although it ranges 

 from South Carolina to Labrador. It is most abundant a little below 

 low tide level but also lives between tides, Avhere it is usually found 

 under stones, in rocky crevices or buried beneath the sand when 

 the tide is out. Above it is dull brick-red in color speckled over 

 with small brownish spots, while the under parts are yellow. Seen 

 from above the shell is oval without sharp points at the side, but 



