120 THE CRUSTACEA 



the tide is out these crabs bury themselves in the sand, only the 

 tips of the long slender antennae being visible above the surface. 

 The front limbs are enormously long in proportion to the body 

 in the male crab. It is a very ancient type of Crustacea, many 

 fossil forms occurring in the Cretaceous strata. 



Of the Land Crabs, the most familiar is probably the Country- 

 man Crab (Gecarcinus niricold), found in Jamaica, Montserrat, and 

 other West Indian islands. At the approach of the spawning 

 season vast armies of these crabs set out from the hills and march 

 across country, regardless of all obstacles, in a direct line to the 

 seashore. Arrived at their destination, the crabs proceed to 

 deposit their eggs in the sand below high-water mark, and this 

 safely accomplished, they start on their toilsome march home- 

 wards to their upland retreat. On their way down to the sea 

 they are fat and in fine condition, and large numbers are caught 

 for food ; but on their return journey they are poor and exhausted, 

 and useless for the table. They cause considerable damage in the 

 sugar-cane plantations, some of the species being particularly 

 partial to and almost entirely subsisting upon the sweet juices of 

 the plant. 



Land Crabs are very abundant in the Deccan, where they 

 are found at an altitude of nearly 4,000 feet. They do not per- 

 form an annual migration to the sea, but probably frequent the 

 margins of the streams. The Calling Crab (Gelasimus) of Brazil 

 presents a very curious appearance owing to one of the claws 

 being enormously developed. This limb is used by the crab in 

 digging its burrow in the sand and earth, a task which it performs 

 with astonishing vigour and dispatch. When alarmed, the crab 

 scuttles away towards its burrow in a terrible hurry, brandishing 

 the great claw aloft in a most comical beckoning manner, from 

 which it has gained its popular name. 



The Anomoura, or Irregular-tailed Crabs, form the connecting 

 link between the Crabs (Brachyura) and the Lobsters (Macroura), 

 and contain many interesting forms, including the so-called 

 Squat Lobsters (Galatheidcz), the little Broad-claw Crabs (Porcil- 

 lanida), the Hermit Crabs (Paguridecz), and the Stone Crabs (Litho- 

 didcz). The so-called Squat Lobsters, or Galathea Crabs, are sym- 

 metrical crabs with a long carapace, and carry their abdomen 

 tucked under the thorax, in much the same position as is seen 



