SCOKPION SPIDER-CRAB. 15 



the male are thick and long, the joints of a somewhat oval 

 form, and the fingers considerably incurved. Those of the 

 female are very small. The remaining feet are very long 

 and slender, the second pair being considerably more than 

 three times the length of the body, including the rostrum. 

 They are also much larger than the succeeding one, which 

 diminish in length and thickness to the last. The abdomen 

 of the male is rather short and broad, the widest part being 

 at the union of the third and fourth joints ; that of the 

 female is remarkably broad. In both sexes it is tuberculo- 

 carinated. 



It would appear that this species is more widely distri- 

 buted than had been suj^posed. Dr. Leach states that it 

 is very plentiful on the coast of Devon ; we have seen that 

 Pennant's specimens were from Weymouth ; and I ob- 

 tained it in Studland Bay, Dorsetshire, and at Hastings. 

 Mr. Couch states that in Cornwall it is commonly taken in 

 crab pots, within a few miles of the shore, at all depths ; 

 and Mr. Eyton informs me that it is found on the oyster- 

 beds at Rhoscolyn, near Holyhead. In Ireland it has 

 been found in many places ; in the Harbour of Cove, by 

 Mr. J. V. Thompson. " It is pretty commonly taken," 

 says Mr. W. Thompson, " in the loughs of Strangford and 

 Belfast, and on the western coast. — Mr. Ball," adds Mr. 

 Thompson, " finds it in Dublin Bay." It is also recorded 

 that Captain Beechey, R.N., brought up a specimen of this 

 species alive in the dredge from a depth of one hundred 

 and forty fathoms, in the Mull of Galloway. Its habitat 

 extends far north, Fabricius having found it in the Nor- 

 wegian Seas. 



