DWARF SWIMMING-CRAB. 113 



carina above ; the fingers are strongly tuberculated, and 

 the moveable one has a shallow longitudinal groove on 

 the upper and outer margin. The second, third, and 

 fourth pairs are slightly compressed and grooved. The fifth 

 pair has the penultimate joint grooved, and the terminal 

 joint is oval ; they are both ciliated all round. 



The abdomen in the male is broadest at the base of 

 the third joint, the remainder forming a regular acute 

 angled triangle ; that of the female is ovate-lanceolate and 

 ciliated at the margin. 



The colour is reddish-brown, often with red spots on 

 the back. In some specimens the colour is lighter, being 

 of a pale red with darker spots. The legs are usually 

 annulated with similar colours. 



This very pretty species was first described by Dr. 

 Leach in the eleventh volume of the Transactions of the 

 Linnean Society, under its present name. Subsequently 

 to this, Risso described it in his Natural History of South- 

 ern Europe, giving it the name of P. maculatus, which 

 Roux very improperly retained in his Crustaces de la 

 Mediterranee, notwithstanding he was aware of the pri- 

 ority of Leach's name. It inhabits deep water, and is 

 common on the coast of Devonshire and Cornwall ; it 

 occurs all along the southern coast, and is also found 

 in the Frith of Forth, and I have specimens taken 

 by Mr. McAndrew off the Isle of Man. On its oc- 

 currence as an Irish species, Mr. Thompson has the fol- 

 lowing remarks, " It is ordinarily taken by us when dredg- 

 ing in the loughs of Strangford and Belfast. At the 

 Killeries in Connemara, it has similarly occurred, as 

 well as in Dublin Bay. In the South, too, it has been 

 taken in the harbour of Cove. I have several times taken 

 it in the stomach of fishes ; in one instance, in a Trigla 



I 



