3°° 



LOWER FORMS OF MARINE LIFE 



Among the short-tailed group, the common edible crab {Cancer pagurus) is to 

 be met with in large numbers at low water on the coasts of Europe, while still 

 more abundant is the familiar shore-crab {Carcinus mamas), which is eaten in 

 Italy and elsewhere. The thornback crab (Maia squinado) is easily recognisable 

 by the peculiar form of the shell, which is broad behind and narrow in front, 

 where it terminates in a spine between the eyes. This crab is common in European 

 seas, especially the Mediterranean. In this species the upper surface is thickly 

 overgrown with seaweeds, but that of the woolly crab (Dromia vulgaris) is 



3 '^A^^ur^h^-^. 



I'RIDEAUX S HERMIT CRAB. 



generally covered with sponges, which are held in position by the hind-legs, and 

 carried about as a means of concealment. Of the long-tailed group, the hermit- 

 crabs form a remarkable section distinguished by the soft-skinned abdomen, 

 which is protected within the empty shell of some univalve mollusc. One species, 

 Prideaux's hermit-crab (Eupagurus prideauxi), sometimes met with in European 

 seas, almost without exception carries on the annexed shell a sea-anemone 

 (Adamsia palliata). How the crab selects the particular kind of anemone, or the 

 anemone the particular kind of crab, is quite unknown. 



The crayfish, as exemplified by the common Palinurus vulgaris, are specially 



