NOTES ON CERTAIN SHORE ORABS. 313 
Scopimera.—I have not been able to identify the species 
to which these crabs belong. Their habits closely resemble 
those of the Dotilla just described. They are always to be 
found on the dry, fine sand just below high-water mark. 
They are smaller and flatter than the Dotillas, and their 
chelipeds are much more spade-like. Their method of feeding 
is exactly the same as that of the Dotilla species, but the 
pellets of sand are often as large as the body of the crab 
before they are removed from the mouth and placed on the 
heap. Their burrow “paths” and piles of “eaten” sand 
are much more orderly than those of the Dotilla. Just 
after the tide has fallen and the sand become fairly dry, this 
neatness is most marked. They work a path, which is about 
three-quarters of an inch wide, and only scrape it on the 
surface to form a shallow groove, all the pellets being placed 
on one side of the path, that is, in eating they always appear 
to face in one direction. Occasionally an aberrant one is 
seen, feeding in an irregular manner so far as the pathways 
are concerned, but the actual method of handling the sand 
is always the same, and there is no possibility of mistaking 
the work of one of these crabs for the work of an Ocypode 
in clearing out its burrow. 
5) 

