368 THE GENUS CALLINECTES—M. J. RATHBUN. vol.xmii. 



ComniissiQii^ can be found tabular statements sliowing the number ami 

 value of edible crabs taken in each State. 



It is not yet known wliether any other species of Callinectes than 

 stqndus is brought to market, but as both G. ornatus and G. larvatus 

 are abundant in the Gulf States, they are undoubtedly taken for this 

 purpose. It would be interesting to know to what extent these and 

 other species take the place of G. sapldus, and how they differ in habits, 

 color,- etc. 



OBSBKVATIONS UPON THE HABITS OF CALLINECTES SAPIDUS. 



Three correspondents of the National Museum — Hon. John 1). 

 Mitchell, of Victoria, Texas; Judge Benjamin Harrison, of Pensacola, 

 Florida; and Mr. Wlllard Nye, jr., of New Bedford, Massachusetts — 

 have kindly permitted me to insert here the following notes based on 

 personal observation of Gallinectes sapidus. The facts presented by 

 Mr. Mitchell regarding the shedding are of especial interest, as our 

 knowledge concerning the frequence of this occurrence is very meager. 



Xote.s hji Jolin I). MitclieU. — Born on an isolated i^oint on the Bay, 

 and inheriting the naturalist's instincts from my mother, I made this 

 crab {Gallinectes sapidiis) one of my earliest playthings, and it has 

 been an interesting study since. When full grown, it measures about 

 7 inches from point to point of the shell in tlie male, and 5 inches in 

 the female. The claws, legs, and shell of the male are tinted with blue, 

 those of the female with red; the apron of the male is narrow, that of 

 the fenmle is broad. The mother crabs live in the Crulf and in the deep 

 water passes and bayous adjacent to the (iulf. The eggs begin grow- 

 ing in the si)ring under the apron, and hatch the latter part of May or 

 June, the young clinging to the apron for several days. When first 

 hatched, they are very little more than two eyes, and look like anything 

 but a crab. I know little about the number of times the crab sheds 

 from the time of leaving the mother's apron until it gets its crab shape, 

 wliich is inside of three months. I have seen the little fellows so thick 

 near the margin that the water would look murky and thick, and 

 thousands could be scooped in the two hands placed together, and their 

 cast-off shells would form a gray streak along the water's edge. They 

 cullect in immense numbers along protected shores and nooks, shed- 

 ding several times and getting their shape in September, when they 



'Statistical Review of the Coast Fisheries of the United States. <^ Rept. U. S. 

 Commr. of Fish and Fisheries for 1888 (1892). Rejjort on the Fisheries of the New 

 England States, by J. W. Collins and Hugh M. Smith. < Bull. U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion, X, 1890 (1892). Report on the Fisheries of the Sonth Atlantic States, by Hugh 

 M. Smith. <Bull. U. S. Fish Commission. XI. 1891 a892). A Statistical Report 



on the Fisheries of the Gulf States, by J. W. Collins and Hugh M. Smith. <^ Bull. 

 U. S. Fish Commission, XI, 1891 (1892). Report on the Coast Fisheries of Texas, by 

 Charles H. Stevenson. <^Rept. U. S. Commr. of Fish and Fisheries for 1889-1891 

 (1893). 



-H. AV. Conn, in Johns Hopkins University Circulars, November, 1883, describes the 

 color variation in the claws of the sexes of C. sapUhis {= hastatus). 



