THE GBAPSOID CRABS OF AMEBIC A. 401 



Color. — Carapace of male a dull light purplish or grayish-blue, 

 with a large patch of deep purplish-blue on the anterior half. Large 

 cheliped dull light blue with white tubercles; articulations yellowish; 

 fingers mostly white. Small cheliped and legs buff ground with blue 

 or brown speckles, articulations yellowish. 



Measurements. — Male (4335G), length of carapace 17.3 mm., width 

 of same 26 mm. 



Habits. — Lives upon muddy and sandy flats and beaches (Verrill 

 and Smith). Usually digs its holes in sand (Pearse). Lives in areas 

 which have a consistent sandy substratum the surface of which may 

 become dry through evaporation (Schwartz and Safir). Mr. J. D. 

 Mitchell has furnished the following notes on the occurrence of U. 

 pugilator in Texas: 



This fiddler crab inhabits all salt-water marsh land, but thrives best on 

 the bay shores next to the Gulf, such as the immense marshes on the north 

 side of the Matagorda Peninsula and the chain of islands on our coast. They 

 dig holes in the ground near water, about half an inch in diameter, tlie holes 

 connecting under the ground in many instances. They are, next to the mullet, 

 the greatest food product of the coast. Nearly everything iu the water and on 

 the land near the water eats fiddlers. They are the main food of the raccoon, 

 and are also eaten by skunks, possums, wild cats, and wolves, and by almost 

 every fish that bites at a hook. The blue crabs catch them if they come near 

 the bay shore and sand crabs eat them if they wander near the Gulf shore. 

 They are a source of endless amuseiuent to the small boy, who makes a pen 

 by setting 12-inch planks edgewise and drives them into it, playing they are 

 cattle; once cut off from their holes they huddle together like sheep and can 

 be driven anywhere. 



Range. — From Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, to Galveston, Texas. 

 Jeremie, Haiti; Dr. D. F. Weinland (M. C. Z.). 



Material examined. — 



Corn Hill and Truro, Massachusetts; F. W. True; 1 male (43355). 



Harwich, Massachusetts; U. S. Bur. Fisheries; 1 male (43358). 



Cataumet, Massachusetts ; July 22 ; U. S. Fish Comm. ; 5 males, 4 

 females (36873). 



Woods Hole, Massachusetts; U. S. Fish Comm.; 85 specimens 

 (3212); 1882; 1 male (14402). 



Vicinity of Woods Hole, Massachusetts; M. J. Rathbun; 2 males 

 1 female (32481). 



Naushon Island, Massachusetts; low water, gutters; U. S. Fish 

 Comm.; 9 males, 5 females (3347). 



Sipaquisset, Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts; Sept. 15, 1875; U. S. 

 Fish Comm.; 2 males, 3 females (2556). 



Vineyard Sound; 1875; U. S. Fish Ccmm. ; 2 specimens (35304). 



Gardiners Bay, Long Island; J. F. Fowler; 1 male (3771). 



The Gut, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island; July 23, 1898; Bio- 

 logical Laboratory; 6 specimens (21662). 

 65S63— 17 26 



