Life Beneath the Waves. 49 



amongst the stones, or to bury itself in the 

 sand ; a desire of attracting observation is 

 certainly not one of its characteristics, but, 

 after a time, it will venture from its hiding- 

 place if offered food, which it will readily 

 seize and demolish. 



Its colour is generally light brown, or 

 dull white, and in some specimens the 

 plump little claws and legs are tinged with 

 red. 



The distinguishing features of Spider- 

 crabs are totally different from those of our 

 compact-looking little friend the Nut very 

 long thin legs, triangular-shaped bodies, with 

 a sort of snout in front, being their most 

 striking characteristics. 



There are many varieties of this class 



some of them being far more like spiders 



than others. The body and legs of the 



one depicted with the Nut are semi-trans- 



4 



