THE OCEANIC SWIMMING CRAB. 



583 



recesses of the shell, is frequently captured and killed by this doughty warrior. Every 

 one who has tried to pull a hermit-crab out of its house, knows the difficulty of the 

 task. The creature has the art of retreating into its dwelling so far, and pressing its 

 claw and legs so firmly against the inner mouth of the shell, that there is nothing by 

 which the animal can be grasped, except, perhaps, the antennae ; and the crab will 

 allow itself to be pulled to pieces rather than loosen its hold. Yet the Fiddler-crab 

 makes little account of the hermit, but pokes his claw into the shell, pinches the poor 

 hermit across the thorax, and drags him out of his cell. It then pulls off and eats the 

 soft abdomen, tears up the body and limbs, and flings them away in fragments, as if 

 for sheer wantonness of destruction. 



There are many species belonging to this genus, which are scattered all over the 

 world, especially where the seas are warm or temperate. The Velvet Fiddler is tolerably 



VELVET FIDDLER-CRAB. -Portuflus puber. 



common on our own coasts, more especially those of the southern parts of the island, 

 and England can also boast of several other species. Of these the MARBLED FIDDLER 

 (Fortunns marmoreus] is perhaps the handsomest, on account of the regular patterns of 

 buff, brown of various shades, and red, which are seen upon the body. The shape of 

 the patterns is variable, but their arrangement is always symmetrical. These colors 

 are, however, very fugitive, and can only be preserved by removing the whole of the 

 soft parts, and dyeing the carapace with great care. All the species seem to be decid- 

 edly local, so that in the space of two or three miles of coast as many species of Portunus 

 may be found, each in its own particular locality. 



PERHAPS the very best swimmer in the family is the OCEANIC SWIMMING CRAB, a 

 creature to which the generic name of Neptunus has been given on account of its 

 wonderful mastery over the waves. 



A glance at the illustration will show that this crab is made for speed, its flattened 

 limbs and body being calculated to offer the least possible resistance to the dense fluid 



