598 



THE HAIKY CRAB. 



The limbs are very remarkable, both as to their shape and their disposition ; they are 

 unequal in size, and the two last pairs are elevated on the back in a very curious 

 fashion. At their extremities is a large hooked nail, which is jointed to the limb, and can 

 be folded back so as to take a firmer grasp. The Woolly Crab seldom approaches the 

 shore, but prefers the deeper waters, and is only to be caught by a dredge with a very long 

 line. On account of its locality very little is known of its habits though much is 

 conjectured. It is mostly found in the Mediterranean. 



SCALLOP CRAB. Caphyra pectenicola. 



WOOLLY CRAB. Dorippe lanata. 



ON the left hand of the illustration may be seen a small scallop shell, with a very 

 little crab lying inside it. This is the Scallop-crab, so called on account of its habits. 

 The general shapes of this crab are not at all unlike those of the pea-crab, which has 

 already been described ; and the curious analogy that exists between form and habits, 

 cannot but strike everyone who compares the two creatures. 



IN the sub-order which now comes before our notice, is seen a modification of structure 

 which evidently forms one of the connecting links between the crabs and the lobsters, or, 

 to speak more accurately, between the short-tailed and long-tailed Crustacea. The two 

 large divisions of the body bear scarcely any ordinary proportion to each other, the 

 abdomen being exceedingly small, and the " cephalo-thorax " enormously large. Some of 

 these creatures extend the abdomen from the body like the lobsters, while others bend it 

 under them, like the crabs. In some species, of which the common hermit-crab is a 

 familiar example, the last pair of legs are totally useless for walking, and are modified 

 into a pair of appendages, by means of which the animal is enabled to grasp with a hold 

 so firm, that it may often be torn asunder rather than be forced to loosen its gripe. 



The right-hand figure of the next illustration represents a curious species belonging to 

 the typical genus of the first family. In all these crustaceans the body is rather globular, 

 and the carapace is bent downwards in front. The eyes are short. 



The HAIKY CKAB is found in the hotter seas, and has been captured off the Cape of 

 Good Hope. The reader will observe that the two hinder pairs of legs are very small in 

 proportion to those limbs which are evidently intended for progression, and that they are 

 furnished at their tips with a hooked claw. These modified and apparently stunted limbs 

 are however extremely useful, their office being ascertained by studying the economy of 

 the animal. With the claws at the end of these limbs the crab seizes pieces of sponge, 

 shells, and other marine substances, so as to conceal its form under their shelter, thereby 

 exhibiting a ciirious analogy to the well-known habits of the tortoise beetle while in its 



