238 THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



This Chapter of Marine Miscellanea would be scarcely complete without some 

 brief reference to an example or two of the more remarkable Australian Crustacea. 

 There are Crabs on the Southern Coast-line, to wit, Pseudocarcinus gigas, of 

 Brobdingnagian proportions, and excellent eating, beside which our homely Cancer 

 pagurus is a dwarf. A specimen of this crab, taken from Tasmanian waters and 

 presented by the writer, will be found in the South Kensington Crustacean Gallery. 

 Its shell or carapace is recorded as not unfrequently attaining to a diameter of as 

 much as two feet. In its vicinity is another representative of the same class, 

 also hailing from the Island- Colony, which probably represents the largest fresh- 

 water Crustacean in the world. This is Astacopsis Franklinii, a near ally of our 

 small river crayfish Astacus vulgaris, but it attains to no less goodly a weight 

 than 8 or even 10 Ibs. avoirdupois. The species is much esteemed for the table ; 

 it is, as proved by the writer, easily kept and fed, and is eminently worthy the 

 attention of practical pisciculturists. The distribution of this magnificent Crustacean is 

 very limited, it being indigenous, like the Tasmanian Black- fish, Gadopsis marmoratus, 

 to the rivers only of the northern district of the Colony. The Murray and other 

 rivers of the Australian Continent likewise produce a very fine crayfish, Astacopsis 

 serratus, but it is much inferior in size, if not in flavour, to the Tasmanian type. 

 The specimen of this Crustacean given by the writer to the National Collection was 

 somewhat remarkable as being an albino or cream-coloured variation of the customary 

 reddish-brown or greenish-tinged race. This specimen, however, by no means 

 represents the full size to which the adults will attain, being indeed a cast shell or 

 ecdysis of a living specimen which was for a considerable while in the writer's keeping. 

 This, as also the Murray river crayfish, is popularly known in the Colonies as the 

 " Fresh-water Lobster." Of the true lobster, genus Homarus, there is no representative 

 in Australian waters, but an abundance of marine crawfish referable to the same 

 genus as the British species, Palinurus vulgaris. 



The crab which is the prime favourite in the central sea-ports from Sydney, on the 

 east, to Perth and Fremantle, in Western Australia, is the so-called Blue Crab, Neptunus 

 pelagicus. It belongs to the group known as swimming crabs, on account of the paddle- 

 like modification of its hinder claws. Though not much larger than our English shore crab, 

 Carcinus mcenas, it is excellent eating, and, being taken in abundance with the most 

 simple tackle, comprising merely some string, raw meat and a small landing net, 

 provides an attractive stimulus to fishing excursions innumerable, which are patronised 

 by angling enthusiasts of every age and status. Immediately on, and even before, 



