156 



several hundreds of males, Mr. Thompson informs us that 

 the several Irish examples which he examined with refer- 

 ence to their sex were all males. 



The testimony which I have given from these different 

 authors prove that the south-western coast, that of Corn- 

 wall and south Devon, is the locality in which this species 

 is most abundant, although it occasionally occurs far to 

 the North. That it is generally an inhabitant of deep 

 water, is also evident ; yet an observation of Mr. Thomp- 

 son's would seem to show that the spawn is deposited, 

 and that the young continue to reside, in shallower 

 depths. " In the month of September 1835," he observes, 

 " I obtained several small living specimens of Atelecyclus 

 (carapace about two lines in length) in rock-pools, ac- 

 cessible at low water." Beyond these observations, we 

 know nothing of its peculiar habits. 



