402 HABITS OF CRUSTACEANS. 



the quick, vivacious movements of its wary consirnilars, 

 and when hotly pursued hides under weeds and stones, 

 remaining perfectly quiet till the enemy is supposed to be 

 gone. The most common species on the coast of Borneo 

 appears to be the Grapsm plicatm, which differs, however, 

 in colour in a very remarkable degree, even in localities 

 not very distant from each other. 



Some of the large, powerful species of Grapsida are 

 very bold, active, and predacious. I have seen them steal 

 with an almost imperceptible motion, and in a cautious 

 sidelong manner, towards a Periophthalmus basking on 

 the rock, and before the fish had time to plunge into the 

 sea, the pincer of the crab had secured it in a vice-like 

 gripe, and the unfortunate victim was consumed at leisure. 

 While watching the evolutions of this lively and sagacious 

 Crustacean, I could not help comparing it to an enor- 

 mous Attus or Jumping Spider, which, in a somewhat 

 similar manner, creeps towards the flies on which it preys, 

 and suddenly surprises them, by leaping on their backs, 

 and sucking their blood. 



The Lambrus, owing to its similarity to the gravelly 

 floor on which it is generally found, must readily escape 

 detection by its enemies. Its body and members, in fact, 

 appear to be made up of a conglomerated mass of small 

 stones. It is a curious fact that so many animals, living 

 upon the submerged beds of broken shells and muddy 

 gravel in the China Sea, should present a similar appear- 

 ance. Such is the case with Phoridte, Ampldtrite, and 

 many species of Alcyonia. Two new species of the genus 

 Lambrus were obtained from the Java Sea, and the coast 

 of Borneo, and have been named by Mr. White and 

 myself L. rapax and L. seynis. 



