90 NATURAL HISTORY. 



above the bottom, and usually on it. His presence is easily dis- 

 covered, as he pulls the float to and. fro, or round in circles, and 

 finally walks away with it, with a motion easily distinguished from 

 that of any fish. You can get rid of his attentions by shortening up 

 the trace under the float ; but if you want to catch him you must use 

 the smallest and toughest bait, such as a bit of sinew, and leave the 

 point of the hook well bare. Such a bait he will probably take into 

 his mouth, after fumbling about it a good deal with his claws, and 

 then a smart stroke will drive a sharp hook through his shell. He 

 will fight for about a minute, and sometimes cuts the line with his 

 claws. A good prawn will measure 9 inches from the tip of the 

 horn to the tip of the tail, whereof 6 inches are good eating, and 

 amount to one good help of lobster. The length of the great claw- 

 bearing legs is the same as that of the animal. The other pairs are 

 short and feeble. The claw-points cross each other when closed, 

 and inflict a nasty little wound. They, and indeed the whole claw- 

 bearing (cheliferous) limbs are somewhat calcareous or crusty and 

 opaque, showing an approach to the lobsters and cray-fishes, but the 

 rest of the shell is horny and translucent. 



The Anomura (or eccentric-tailed crustaceaus) form a group 

 between the long-tailed lobster tribe and the crabs. The com- 

 monest of them here are the Hermit crabs, all closely resembling 

 the European Pagurus Bemhardus. Tbe anomaly of their tails is that 

 they are naked ; and in fact the whole animal of Pagurus may be 

 likened to a prawn half-shelled. What shell he has, however, is 

 stony and not horny. By way of shelter, the Hermit-crab takes up 

 his quarters in' any empty univalve shell that he finds handy, coiling 

 away his naked tail in its spiral chamber, and making fast with 

 a sort of sucker that he has ad hoc, so well that you may pull him 

 to pieces easier than make him let go. 



The Hermit-crabs are exceedingly numerous here. Their small fry, 

 in thousands, inhabit dead shells of Rotella ; and the larger those 

 of whelks and murices, &c. A very favourite shell with them is 

 that of Potamides. They give rise to some disputes between me 

 and my collectors, who are led to expect higher prices for shells 

 containing the living animal, and always pretend not to know that 

 the Hermit-crab is other than the proper inhabitant of the shell. 

 Another group of the Anomura are the so-called " crab-lobsters," 

 (Porcellance) which are not very common here. 



The true Crabs are classed as Bracbyura (or short-tailed), and 



