ASTACUS GAMMARUS. 
Tas. XXXV. 
CANCER gammarus, Leach. 
A. carapace cylindrico, leviter puncturato, prope medium sulco diviso; pedunculo antennarum 
majorum basi unidentato; oculis globosis quam pedunculos minoribus ; segmentibus abdominis 
leevibus, ad latera planilobatis ; cauda latissima, laminis exterioribus dentato-articulatis. 
Cancer gammarus, Linneus. Syst. Nat. 
Astacus marinus, Fabricius. Suppl. p. 406. Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. t. X. f. 22. 
Homarus vulgaris, Jfidne Edwards. Hist. Crust. II. p. 324. 
The supply of this inestimable crustacean annually brought to the London markets for our 
tables from the Channel Islands, from various localities on our own coasts, and above all, from those 
of Norway, has been something wonderful. The latter have supplied above 600,000 annually, 
and the former combined about 200,000. 
Like Crabs and Cray-fish, the Homarus vulgarus, or common Lobster, is known, when caught 
by a claw, to escape by shaking off the limb, leaving it in the hands of the captor. And it is 
believed that sudden fright produced by the noise of cannon or thunder will sometimes cause 
the creature thus to dismember itself. 
The colour of the species is dull reddish yellow spotted with blueish black, the under side 
appearing beautifully marbled. The specimens vary very much according to the localities in 
which they occur. In each of their special haunts the range of the Lobster is limited, and each 
little community of them retains its own characteristics. These are in many cases so marked that 
good authorities have declared that on seeing a specimen they could indicate the spot whence it 
had been brought. 
