Narrativk oi- Bahama Expedition. 51 



The grotesque forms which these animals assvime can only be 

 appreciated when seen. Here is Nature's art of protective 

 form and coloration carried to perfection. Scuttling among 

 the ••grass"" might be seen a very strikingly marked species 

 oi JCcp/iiuiis. which was conspicuous only after being brought 

 on board, its alternate olivaceous and light markings assimi- 

 lating perfecth- with the grass and sand over which it crawls. 

 A verv peculiarly ornamented species of Ar/(C(i [A. pal men 

 Rathbun ) was secured, with the carajxice and upper surface 

 of chehe ornamented with regularly disposed round groups of 

 nodules, looking like sparsely distributed cobble-stones, be- 

 tween which a dense furry hair appears. The legs are greatly 

 tiattened. the chela' sharp and dentated. while each ambula- 

 tory leg is provided wilh a horny claw at its distal extremity. 



The genus Piliiiiniits was represented by an extremely 

 hairv species. P. caribccits Desbonne and Schramm, with jet 

 black fingers to the chehe. which were coarsely gi-anulated. 

 Among the spider-like crabs, two species of MacrocLvloma 

 came up on the tangles, one of them being very closely allied 

 to C caiuptuccra. with a triangular bod\-. parallel rostral spines, 

 tubular eve sockets, and prominent spines on dorsal surface of 

 the carapace. 



Massive sponges came aboard, fairly alive with crustacea of 

 various species. As might have been expected, specimens of 

 J)ro]uidia autiUcus.is Stimpson.were included, each covered with 

 its mass of sponge, and further protected by a coloration 

 exactly matching that of the sponge under which it lived. The 

 carapace, moreover, is covered with short, dense hair. gi\ ing a 

 splendid means of attachment to the sponge, which is still 

 further prevented from being lost by the pseudo-chela- with 

 which the fourth and fifth pairs of legs are pro\ided. these 

 latter being habitually carried over the back of the animal so 

 as to be available in holding on to the sponge. 



But the strangest of all the strange crabs collected here was 

 a little fellow made to resemble a bit of shell so perfectl\- 

 tiiat any one but the sharp-eyed young man who attended to 

 the Crustacea would have been likely to overlook it altoLfcthei-. 



