A HISTORY OF KENT 



many ornithologists.' ' For Maia squhiaao I have now therefore deemed 

 it absolutely necessary to propose the new generic name Mamaia, being 

 led to the choice of that particular form by the desire to cause as little 

 alteration as possible in the sectional titles, such as Maiidae, founded on 

 the older name and needing a correspondent change/ 



Of the Brachyura anomala the brown fur-coated Dromia vulgaris, 

 Milne-Edwards, may, it seems, be claimed as a lawful prize for the fauna 

 of this county. It is mentioned in the Handbook to Dover, and Bell 

 says, 'The first intimation of the present species as a native of Britain 

 occurs in an announcement by Mr. John Edward Gray, at a meeting 

 of the Zoological Club of the Linnaean Society, as long since as June 

 22nd, 1824. These were stated to have been seen by that gentleman 

 in Billingsgate Market, amongst some oysters, which had been brought 

 from Whitstable Bay, on the Kentish coast.' ' Though the anomalous 

 Brachyura Hke the genuine ones are devoid of well developed uropods, 

 these missing appendages of the sixth pleon segment appear to be repre- 

 sented in the family Dromiidae by a pair of small lateral plates between 

 the sixth and seventh segments. In this section the last pair of walking 

 legs, when folded at rest, lie more or less on the back of the carapace 

 and they are often very short. The branchiae also are not as in the true 

 crabs limited to a maximum of nine pairs, but often exceed the number 

 of fourteen pairs which is found in the family Dromiidae. 



The Handbook to Dover says : ' Lithodes maia and Dromia vulgaris 

 prefer the deeper water in the Channel ; they are only brought ashore 

 at times by fishermen. The little Porcellana longicornis prefers also deep 

 water : it is generally brought in upon scallops, and is also partial to 

 cavities of Eschara. P. platycheles, on the contrary, is common under 

 stones between tide-marks, a habit which also commends itself to 

 Galathea squatnifera below Abbot's Cliff. Pagurus bernhardus, the 

 hermit crab, which conceals its defenceless body in an empty shell of 

 whelk or natica, is more common upon mud than sand bottoms.' 

 These observations introduce us to the Macrura anomala, the anomalous 

 long-tailed decapods, most of which are distinguished from the true 

 crabs by having uropods, and those which are without these appendages 

 have in other respects a different arrangement of the pleon. To the 

 latter group belongs Lithodes maia (Linn.), the ' northern stone crab,' 

 an extremely interesting acquisition for Kentish waters. The extension 

 of its range to the English Channel is noteworthy, but the record would 

 be much increased in value could more precise information be furnished 

 as to the place of capture and actual depth of water from which the 

 capture was made. Fishing boats sometimes come into harbour from 

 very distant excursions, and may occasionally bring in trophies not 

 their own obtained by exchange. It is however now well known that 



> Proc. Biological Society of Washington, xi. 160 (1897). 



> On this subject the specialist may wish further to consult Proc. Biol. Soc, Washington, xviii. 

 p. 73 (Rathbun), p. 157 (Stebbing) (1905). 



3 Zoological Journ. i. 419 ; Brit. Stalk-eyed Crust, p. 371 

 244 



