602 



THE ASIATIC HIPPA. 



and the last two pairs ascend upon the back. All the Raninidae inhabit hot countries, 

 and are found chiefly in the Mauritius, the Philippines, and India. The TOOTHED FROG- 

 CRAB (Ranina serrata) is a good and tolerably common example of this family. It is a 

 native of the Mauritius and Japan. 



It is altogether a curious-looking creature, with a broad flattish carapace edged, in 

 front with the most formidable-looking teeth, that hardly seem to belong to the shell, 

 but to have been taken from the mouth of a shark and fastened artificially upon the 

 front edge of the carapace. The legs of this creature seem quite insufficient to carry 

 the great broad carapace, and the abdomen is almost absurdly small. The color of 

 the shell is very pale pink, and the spines which cover its surface are of a whiter 

 hue, looking almost as if they had been pricked into the carapace by human means. 



SYMNISTA.- Albuaea symalsta. 



TOOTHED FROG-CRAB.-/?an//7a deatata. 



All the points are directed forward, and have a very rough effect when the hand is 

 drawn from the front to rear. When full grown, the Toothed Frog-crab is about as 

 large as a man's fist. 



THE smaller figure on the same illustration represents a rather pretty-looking and 

 decidedly curious crab, which is an example of another family, termed the Hippidae. 

 In this family the carapace is long, rounded, and rather thimble-shaped, in most cases 

 slightly flattened above. The abdomen is very small, and from the upper view of the 

 body is hardly visible. In one species of the typical genus, the ASIATIC HIPPA (Hippo, 

 asiaticd), the carapace is very round, elongated, and altogether egg-shaped, so that it 

 would hardly be taken for a part of a crustacean. Even its color is a hue rarely seen 

 among the shelly race, being a soft pale yellow very like the chrysalis case of the oak 

 egger-moth, which indeed it also resembles in shape. 



