CRABS AND LOBSTERS. 14! 



when speaking of the likeness between the swimming-crabs 

 (Portunus) and the Shore-crab. The Velvet Fiddler (Por- 

 tunus puber) is one of the swimming crabs; this may easily be 

 seen on reference to the hindmost pair of legs, as already 

 indicated. The Velvet Fiddler gets the two words of his 

 queer name from two distinct characters. He is clad in a 

 dingy suit of velveteen, which appears to be much the worse 

 for wear rusty, and in places the nap is worn right off, 

 probably by too much squeezing into tight places in the rocks. 

 On his limbs the velveteen is marked in such definite patterns, 

 that we feel inclined to abandon the hard-wear theory, and to 

 fall back upon one of natural artistic adornment. He is really 

 a very fine fellow ; his legs being covered on the upper sides 

 with this velvet pile, with the exception of certain longitudinal 

 raised lines of polished blue-black. The square-looking back 

 of the carapace has a similar smooth raised border, with two 

 raised lines of the same character below it. Then all the 

 smaller legs have the longest joint fringed along the upper 

 edge, but the hindmost pair in addition have a close broad 

 band of stiff feather-like fringe standing out all round the three 

 last joints. The last two of these are flattened out to such an 

 extremity of thinness that there seems to be no room for living 

 ilesh within. The pincer-claws are not so heavy or robust as 

 those of the species we have already considered. They are 

 more uniform in thickness, more elegant in their slim tapering, 

 so that the members of this genus are often called Lady-crabs. 

 The upper surface is velvety, picked out here and there with 

 blue, and the hand, with its fixed nipper, is decorated below 

 with white and blue tubercles. The moveable nipper is finely 

 ridged, and both of them have a fine row of teeth. Then these 

 pincer-claws are well-armed with long sharp spines ; the antero- 

 lateral margins of the carapace are finished off with five sharp 

 curved spines on each side, and the space between the eye- 

 orbits are similarly protected, but with thinner, straight spines. 

 The large round eyes are a pair of gleaming rubies, and the 



