580 THE GREEN, OR SHORE CRAB. 



proportion, and destitute of the tubercles which are so characteristic in the former 

 species. Both these crabs are natives of the East Indies. 



WE now arrive at the family of the Portunidae, or Swimming Crabs, which may be 

 recognised by the construction of the last pair of feet, which are flattened sideways, 

 and have the last joint dilated into a thin oblique plate, which answers as an oar or a 

 fin, and enables the creature to propel itself through the water. The first example of 

 this family is the GREEN, or SHORE-CRAB, so familiar to every one who has passed even 

 an hour on the coast between the time of high and low water. Although one of the 

 commonest of our native crustaceans, it is at the same time one of the most interest- 

 ing, and, owing to its diurnal habits, its fearless nature, and its love for the shallow 

 waters, it is very easily observed. I have spent many a pleasant hour in watching the 

 habits of this little creature, and could hardly have imagined the activity, the piercing 

 sight, and the cleverness with which this crab is endowed. 



It is a fierce and even voracious animal, chasing and fairly running down living prey, 

 and actually leaping upon its victim with a spring like that of the hunting spider. I 

 have seen the Green Crabs run after and catch even the active sandhoppers, calculat- 

 ing with nice precision the spot on which they alighted, and pouncing on them before 

 they could get themselves into position for a second leap. If the prey should be of 

 tolerable size, the crab does not leap at it, but darts out one of its claws with a stroke 

 so sharp and quick, that the eye can scarcely follow it, and as true of aim as the ser- 

 pent's dart, draws back the victim, seizes it immediately with the other claw, and begins 

 to pull it to pieces before it can recover from the shock. 



Any living thing that can be caught becomes prey to the Green Crab. I have seen it 

 actively pursuing the flies that settle in great numbers on the decaying sea-weed, and once 

 observed it to dash at, seize, and eat a burrowing wasp which had settled on a stone. 

 When catching a small and active creature like a sandhopper or a fly, the crab moves 

 quickly towards the spot, leaps at its victim, flinging its body over it, and enclosing it 

 within a kind of cage formed by its legs. It then pokes one claw into the living cage, 

 picks out the enclosed victim, pulls it to pieces, and tucks the morsels into its mouth. 

 As for flies, they are eaten at once without being pulled to pieces ; but the sandhoppers 

 and larger creatures always undergo that preliminary process. It is a cruel cannibal, 

 feeding on its own kind without the least hesitation, and displaying equal ingenuity 

 in chasing a Green Crab that is smaller than itself, or escaping from one that is 

 larger. 



An amusing instance of its fox-like craft is related by M. de Quatrefages : " One 

 day I threw a large arenicola (/'. e. lug-worm) into a pool of several feet in extent. A 

 troop of little shrimps, who were sedately enjoying themselves in the clear element, 

 dispersed in alarm, startled by the noise made by the fall of this strange body, but, 

 recovering themselves in a moment, they rallied, and, while the annelid was endeavor- 

 ing to bury itself in the sand, one of the youngest, and consequently the most venture- 

 some of the party seized the creature by the middle of its body. 



Emboldened by this example, the others lost no time in imitating it, and the poor 

 arenicola was pulled about in all directions, until a full-grown shrimp, darting from 

 behind a tuft of corallines, dispersed his feebler comrades, and appropriated the booty 

 to himself. I soon saw, however, that he would be compelled to divide the spoil, for, 

 at that very instant, there poured forth from the moving sand some scores of small 

 turbos and buccinums, who, conscious that a victim was at hand, wished to participate 

 in the feast. Without any sign of uncertainty or hesitation, they moved straight for- 

 ward towards the arenicola, whose body was covered in the twinkling of an eye with 

 those voracious molluscs. 



I thought his fate definitively settled, when a small Shore-crab issued from beneath 

 a stone, put to flight the shrimp, and, by dragging off the arenicola, very nearly upset 

 all the turbos, who forthwith hurried back to their sandy haunts. Then, however, a 

 large edible crab appeared upon the scene, and the poor little Maenas was obliged in 

 his turn to beat a retreat, in order to escape out of reach of the formidable pincers of 

 his stronger kinsman. But he still kept a watchful eye over the dainty morsel which he 



