SEA-SPIDERS. 245 



examined, of a little densely-populated world, being 

 crowded with living beings, all active and full of bustling 

 animation ; strange-shaped little fishes, bright sea-slugs, 

 tiny shells of the Nautilus tribe, grotesque sea-spiders, 

 and whole gangs of odd crabs, Medmte, and transparent 

 shrimps. The Podosomatous forms of spider-like Crus- 

 taceans are very slow and languid in their progression, 

 moving their slender articulations but feebly, seemingly 

 as if encumbered by their inordinate length. They hide 

 in hollow sponges, or the anfractuosities of madrepores 

 and corallines, and some I have seen take up their abode 

 among the spines of large Cidares and Echini. Their 

 habits, are slow, sly, cautious and predatory. We found 

 them in large numbers in the sea of Mindoro in twenty 

 fathoms, and sandy bottom, entangled in huge bunches 

 of pinnatiferous Keratophytes. 



In the Straits of Sunda, we obtained by the dredge 

 several fine specimens of the beautiful Galathea elcgans 

 of White. It is very active in its movements, darting 

 backwards by sudden powerful jerks, snapping its chelae 

 quickly together, and producing a clicking noise. When 

 swimming, the post-abdomen is first bent under the 

 body, and again violently forced backwards. In the 

 recent state, the body of the common variety is yellow, 

 with three dark-red bands. The post-abdomen is pink. 

 The chelae are bright pink, and finely marked with 

 two series of dark-brown irregular spots. The legs 

 are pink, with a dark stripe on the femur, and a brown 

 transverse band on the penultimate joint. The under 

 surface is flesh colour with two longitudinal stripes on 

 the breast ; frontal spine orange. Near the same spot a 



