BOPYRUS. 255 



Montagu, they were always attended by the male, who 

 attaches himself firmly by his claws to the appendages. He 

 adds that the very disproportionate size of the sexes is wisely 

 adapted to an animal whose habitation is so confined. 



Fam. BOPYRIBJS. 



Abdominal appendages lamellar and concealed beneath 

 the abdomen. 



Gen. 134. BOPYRUS, Latr. 



Male much smaller than the female, narrow and elon- 

 gated ; head with rudimentary antennae; legs very short ; the 

 abdominal segments with false legs, like small membranous 

 lobes, scarcely perceptible. Female five or six times larger 

 than the male; body pyriform and very depressed, and 

 always more or less bulging on one side ; her abdomen is 

 very wide at the base, and gradually contracts to a point, 

 its lower surface has five pairs of false legs, each consisting 

 of a single membranous triangular plate. 



Found beneath the carapace of Prawns of the genera 

 Palcemon and Hippolyte, their presence being indicated by 

 an external swelling of that part. The French fishermen 



