578 



THE SPOTTED CRAB. 



THE genus to which the SPOTTED CRAB is assigned is rather more comprehensive than 

 the preceding, and contains six or eight species, all being remarkable for their round and 

 smooth bodies, the peculiar notches and projections on the edge of the carapace, and the 

 huge claws that terminate the first pair of legs. 



None of the members of this genus seem to belong to the British seas, requiring 

 the greater warmth of the tropical sunbeams to thrive and prosper. Some species 

 are found about Jamaica and the West Indies in general, others inhabit the Philip- 

 pines, and others, again, are natives of the Mauritius. Except from the peculiar spots 

 with which the carapace is decorated, this crab might easily escape detection while 

 lying with its limbs withdrawn, and its frame in a state of quietude, for it is so round and 



SPOTTED CRAB. CarpHtus maculatus. 



so smooth that it looks very like a large pebble that has received a partial polish from 

 the action of the waves. Many specimens are covered more or less with vegetable and 

 animal growths, such as corallines, algae, barnacles, and zoophytes, and are therefore 

 almost undistinguishable while they are quiet. 



The spots which are seen upon the carapace are bright red. This creature is drawn 

 of its natural dimensions, and is a native of the Mauritius. 



WANT of space compels us to pass by several other genera of crabs belonging to this 

 extensive family, many of which are of eccentric shapes and not unpleasing colors. They 

 are all marine, and though they can endure removal from the water for a considerable 

 time, are sure to die when the moisture of theirgills has dried up. For the Crustacea do 

 not breathe by lungs, as in the mammalia, or by tubes, as in the insects, but by gills, or 

 branchiae, as they are technically called ; and it is absolutely necessary that these organs 



