SPIDER CRABS. 261 



where it lurks beneath the seaweed. It likewise 

 buries itself in the sand. 



These are but two from among a large number 

 of species belonging to the coasts of Britain and 

 Ireland, some of which are very remarkable. 



One of the most singular species is the Spider- 

 crab, of which there are several kinds. The body 

 of this crab is triangular or heart-shaped, and the 

 legs of great length, so that it is able to elevate 

 its body very much in the same manner as some 

 of the long-legged spiders, to which it bears no 

 inconsiderable resemblance. One of the com- 

 monest of these spider-crabs, to which natural- 

 ists have given the name of Stenorhyncus pha- 

 langium, is obtained by dredging on scallop 

 and oyster banks. Its body is an inch in length, 

 triangular, spiny, and the legs are four times the 

 length of the body, and covered with rough hairs. 

 This creature is not possessed of the nimbleness 

 so frequent among its various connections ; it is 

 sluggish and feeble, and its shell is often found 

 covered with a growth of seaweed and zoophytes. 

 A very singular case of this kind is related by an ex- 

 cellent writer in the " Annals of Natural History." 

 He states that a spider-crab, the breadth of whose 

 shell was only two inches and a quarter, had an 

 oyster of three inches in diameter firmly attached 

 to his back ; and that this oyster was encrusted 

 with large acorn-shells, so that it must have been 

 of considerable age. All this weight the spider- 

 crab carried about with him from place to place, 

 unable to shake off the incubus which adhered to 

 s 3 



