212 



RIVER LOBSTERS. 



the animal is secured.* The ponds in which 

 the lobsters are taken are always full of water, 

 being supplied by springs : one of them was 

 about fifty yards in length by twenty in breadth, 

 but of no great depth at any part. They form 

 a chain along the plains during the dry season 

 of the year ; but during heavy rains they linite 

 into a running stream, which empties itself into 

 the Yas river. It is only at the season, when 

 there is merely a chain of ponds or swamps, 

 with but little water, that the lobsters can be 

 .caught with facility. 



In the Murrumbidgee, Yas, Tumat, and other 



Inch. 



41 

 3| 

 If 



1| 



41- 



* The largest specimen measured — 



Length of the body- 

 Length of the claw 



Breadth of the shield 



Breadth of the claw 



Breadth of expanded tail 



Length of the anterior antennae 



Length of the posterior antennae 

 The colour of the upper part of the body, in the large spe- 

 cimens, was brownish green ; the upper part of the claws 

 blueish green, occasionally mottled ; under surface, whitish ; 

 joints, red. The smaller specimens had the upper surface of 

 the body of a dark green colour, claws blueish green and 

 mottled : several of the females had a quantity of ova in the 

 usual situation. 



