THE ANi:\rAL LIFE OF THE (JROUP. 469 



Hawaiian species is placed in a separate family and is known as the rock 

 lobster.^ The large size, enormously long, stout antennie and spiny carapace 

 of the ula, and the absence of the pincer-claw, are among its most conspicuous 

 characteristics and serve to separate it at once from the fifteen or twenty 

 species of crabs, lobsters, shrimps and prjiwus that find thoir way into the 

 markets. 



The ula is caught in lobster traps, or more commonly by stringing a net 

 about the reef and leaving it during the night. As lobsters ai-e tu-tive at 

 night, they become entangled in the net when they come out of llieir hiding 

 places among the rocks to seek food. Although they appear large and showy 

 in the market stalls, their color is such that they harmonize perfectly with 

 the rocks and seaweed where they make their home. They are, therefore, very 

 difficult to detect on the reef, and are not often seen by one unfamiliar with 

 their appearance or habits. 



They feed upon both fresh and decayed fish, various invertebrate animals, 

 and to some extent on seaweeds. The lively demand for them, owiug to their 

 excellent food qualities, brings large numbers of them fresh and sprawling 

 into the markets every day. The ulaapapa -^ is also a large species of crawfish- 

 like animal, quite common in the markets, that is a favorite food of the native 

 people. 



Prawns. 



Prawns'^ of several species and brackish and fresh-watrr shrimps" are 

 common in the fish stalls and are of excellent quality. 



Turning to the short-tailed Crustacea, or the crabs, a dozen species at 

 least are offered for sale. The papai, the aania. and the alamihi are the more 

 common forms, while such crabs as the kukuma, the pai)a and ihe papai lauai 

 are less abundant. The alamihi is a notorious scavenger on the coral reefs 

 about Plonolulu. The kumimi is regarded as poisonous b\- tlie Ilawaiians. 

 They are fairly common along the shore, and they and their close relatives 

 are quite generally avoided by experienced crab catchers. 



The common black rock-crab ^ is the species usually found hidden under 

 stones at low tide. A similar dark-colored, but more active, species prefers 

 the dash of the spray along rocky shores, wliile a pale sand-colored crab"' 

 lives in burrows that it makes for itself in tlic sandy shore just above high 

 tide. Other forms live their lives hidden away in the coral heads; and so the 

 list might be extended almost indefinitely, as more than three hundred species 

 belonging to the short-tailed i" and the long-tailed ^i Crustacea are enumer- 

 ated by Miss Mary J. Rathljun in licr i-cport on this section of the Hawaiian ma- 

 rine and fresh-water fauna. As eighty of the species are described by her for tiie 

 first time, the brief characterization of the common forms is too difficult a 



* I'riHiniridcc. ^ iSrvlla rides S(iu(immnsii.i. 



''Alofilo: this native name is most commonly applied to the mantis-shrimp. 

 "! Opae. ^ Grapmis grapstis tei(iiicr>iiit(it(if'\ « Orypode ceratopthalma. 



'" Maci'ura. n Braclii/ioa. 



