THE HAIRY 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 a 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. -Cap//ra pectealcola. 



WOOLLY CRAB. Dorlppe 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 every one 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 familar example, the last pair of legs are totally useless for walking, and are mod- 

 ified 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 belong- 

 ing 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 HAIRY CRAB is found in the hotter seas, and has been captured off the Cape of 

 Good Hope. The reader will observe that the 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 curious analogy to the well-known habits of the tortoise beetle while in its 



