﻿382 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  the 
  remainder, 
  with 
  one 
  exception, 
  to 
  the 
  highest 
  order 
  of 
  sessile-eyed 
  crus- 
  

   taceans, 
  the 
  Choi-istojjoda— 
  species 
  with 
  fourteen 
  legs, 
  like 
  the 
  wood-lice, 
  water- 
  

   slaters, 
  and 
  sand-hoppers. 
  

  

  Below 
  these 
  come 
  the 
  numerous 
  microscopic 
  forms 
  of 
  fresh-water 
  and 
  marine 
  

   crustaceans, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  sucking 
  Lei-neans 
  and 
  Caligi, 
  and 
  the 
  Cirripedes, 
  or 
  

   barnacles, 
  none 
  of 
  which, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  know, 
  have 
  as 
  yet 
  received 
  special 
  atten- 
  

   tion 
  on 
  this 
  Coast. 
  Out 
  of 
  Stimpson's 
  ninety-six 
  stalked-eyed 
  species 
  this 
  col- 
  

   lection 
  does 
  not 
  at 
  present 
  possess 
  more 
  than 
  about 
  forty. 
  

  

  Fortunately, 
  however, 
  we 
  have 
  here 
  several 
  species 
  not 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Stimp- 
  

   son. 
  Among 
  these 
  is 
  a 
  swimming 
  crab, 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Amphitrile, 
  collected 
  at 
  

   Mazatlan 
  by 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  Edwards. 
  When 
  Stimpson 
  wrote, 
  no 
  species 
  of 
  swimming 
  

   crab 
  had 
  been 
  found 
  upon 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Coast, 
  but 
  Dr. 
  Cooper 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  

   the 
  specimen 
  we 
  have 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  the 
  first 
  found, 
  as 
  he 
  had 
  previously 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  specimens 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  upon 
  the 
  southern 
  coast 
  of 
  Cali- 
  

   fornia. 
  The 
  swimming 
  crabs, 
  or 
  Portunidce, 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  named, 
  (from 
  the 
  genus 
  

   Portunus, 
  to 
  which 
  many 
  European 
  species 
  belong) 
  may 
  be 
  distinguished 
  by 
  

   the 
  expansion 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  joint 
  of 
  the 
  hindermost 
  pair 
  of 
  feet 
  into 
  an 
  oar-like 
  

   form. 
  They 
  are 
  numerous 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast. 
  Only 
  four 
  species 
  belonging 
  

   to 
  the 
  Cancridoe, 
  the 
  typical 
  crabs, 
  are 
  enumerated 
  by 
  Stimpson, 
  and 
  all 
  of 
  

   these 
  belong 
  to 
  one 
  genus 
  — 
  Cancel-. 
  This 
  genus 
  is 
  distinguished 
  by 
  the 
  extreme 
  

   narrowness 
  of 
  the 
  front, 
  or 
  space 
  between 
  the 
  eyes, 
  and 
  by 
  antennte, 
  which 
  pro- 
  

   ject 
  forwards. 
  

  

  The 
  common 
  edible 
  crab 
  of 
  the 
  San 
  Francisco 
  market. 
  Cancer 
  magiiter, 
  be- 
  

   longs 
  to 
  this 
  genus, 
  as 
  does 
  also 
  the 
  edible 
  crab 
  of 
  Great 
  Britain. 
  In 
  this 
  

   museum 
  we 
  have 
  four 
  Pacific 
  Coast 
  species 
  belonging 
  to 
  another 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  great 
  family 
  — 
  a 
  section 
  characterized 
  by 
  a 
  front 
  seldom 
  less 
  than 
  one-sixth, 
  

   and 
  sometimes 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  one-half, 
  the 
  entire 
  breadth 
  of 
  the 
  carapax, 
  or 
  shell. 
  

  

  Another 
  novelty 
  is 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  Gclasimus, 
  or 
  fiddler 
  crab, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  popularly 
  

   called. 
  The 
  females 
  of 
  this 
  genus 
  have 
  the 
  first 
  pair 
  of 
  feet 
  of 
  ordinary 
  pro- 
  

   portions, 
  but 
  the 
  males 
  are 
  blessed 
  with 
  a 
  right 
  hand 
  of 
  amazing 
  size, 
  longer 
  

   . 
  than 
  the 
  width 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  and 
  terminating 
  in 
  an 
  immense 
  pair 
  of 
  pincers. 
  

   These 
  Gelasimi 
  do 
  not 
  live 
  in 
  the 
  sea, 
  but 
  in 
  salt 
  marshes, 
  where 
  they 
  abide 
  

   in 
  holes, 
  like 
  toads 
  in 
  the 
  garden 
  — 
  a 
  pair 
  usually 
  inhabiting 
  each 
  hole. 
  "When 
  

   the 
  animal 
  is 
  disturbed 
  or 
  aggressively 
  inclined, 
  this 
  tremendous 
  right 
  hand 
  is 
  

   brandished 
  aloft 
  in 
  a 
  most 
  comical 
  fashion, 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  has 
  reached 
  his 
  home 
  he 
  

   bars 
  the 
  entrance 
  with 
  the 
  same 
  useful 
  member. 
  

  

  The 
  specimens 
  are 
  from 
  San 
  Diego. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  now 
  only 
  to 
  say 
  a 
  few 
  words 
  about 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  common 
  in 
  or 
  

   just 
  outside 
  the 
  bay 
  of 
  San 
  Francisco. 
  One 
  little 
  fellow, 
  who 
  has 
  been 
  christ- 
  

   ened 
  with 
  the 
  " 
  barbarous 
  binomial 
  " 
  of 
  Pachygrapsus 
  crassipes, 
  lives 
  in 
  the 
  

   crevices 
  of 
  rocks 
  at 
  or 
  near 
  high-tide 
  mark. 
  As 
  the 
  last 
  joints, 
  or 
  tarsi, 
  of 
  his 
  

   four 
  hinder 
  pairs 
  of 
  legs 
  are 
  set 
  with 
  sharp 
  little 
  spines, 
  he 
  can 
  stick 
  pretty 
  

   tightly 
  to 
  the 
  surfaces 
  of 
  the 
  crevice 
  ; 
  moreover, 
  his 
  pincers 
  are 
  sharp, 
  and 
  he 
  

   knows 
  how 
  to 
  use 
  them, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  no 
  easy 
  matter 
  to 
  dislodge 
  hira. 
  He 
  keeps 
  

   a 
  good 
  lookout, 
  and 
  usually 
  sees 
  you 
  before 
  you 
  see 
  him, 
  withdrawing 
  as 
  far 
  

  

  