MALACOSTRACA. DECAPODA. 283 



of water, together with some pretty little Shrimps 

 of a pellucid olive tint, with brilliant violet spots, 

 numerous in the same locality. One of the Shrimps 

 swam near a Crab, which instantly seized it with 

 his claw; with this he held it firmly, while with 

 the other claw he proceeded very deliberately to 

 pick off small portions, (beginning at the head,) 

 which he put, bit by bit, into his mouth : he con- 

 tinued to do this, in spite of the struggles of the 

 poor Shrimp, sometimes shifting it from one claw 

 to the other, until he had finished. He picked 

 off all the members of the head and the legs before 

 he began to eat the body, chewing every morsel 

 very slowly, and seeming to eat it with great gusto ; 

 when nothing was left but the tail, he held it up 

 and scrutinized it a moment, then rejected it, throw- 

 ing it from him with a contemptuous jerk. These 

 Crabs swim very fast, moving their legs rapidly, and 

 coming to the surface or sinking at pleasure. They 

 are rather wary, for often when we observed some 

 of them crawling about a mass of weed, on endea- 

 vouring to reach it with the boat-hook, the moment 

 the weed was touched the little Crabs would scuttle 

 off and swim swiftly out of reach. The antennae 

 are kept in constant motion. Some of them which 

 we examined had large bunches of black eggs, on 

 which the abdomen was kept pressed down with 

 much tenacity. 



