184 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 
is the case in one from Plymouth, with which he compared it. 
Doubtless these small differences have no special significance. 
The discovery of Pzvzmela at Canty Bay is chiefly of 
interest on account of its apparent rarity on the Scottish 
coasts; it has not, in fact, been recorded from the Firth 
of Forth, being an addition to Scott’s recent list. As far 
as is known to me, only three previous records exist, two 
of which—given in Bell’s work quoted above—date back 
over a hundred years and are very indefinite. Of these, 
the first is that of Montagu, who was assured that a specimen 
which he saw in the cabinet of Donovan “came from the 
coast of Scotland”; while the second is attributed to Leach, 
who “says he obtained a fragment from the same locality.” 
Lastly, in his “Marine Invertebrates and Fishes of St 
Andrews” (1875), Prof. W. C. M‘Intosh supplies a more 
localised record in these words—“ Occasionally from deep 
water. Rare.” It would seem probable that the fishing grounds 
beyond the Bell Rock were the home of his specimens 
for in his introduction to the same volume Prof. M‘Intosh 
describes St Andrews Bay as follows: “The greater part 
of the sandy bay has a depth of less than 10 fathoms; 
for at this point the 20-fathom line bends outwards to the 
Bell Rock. The whole region is thus comparatively shallow, 
and in contrast with that to the north of Arbroath Road, or 
with the Firth of Forth and the neighbouring coast on the 
south.” 
It is therefore with no small satisfaction that this little 
crab’s appearance in Forth is recorded —a satisfaction 
enhanced by its occurring on the east coast, whose reluctant 
waters yield so much less than do those of the west. 
In othef than British waters, Pzrzmela denticulata has 
a considerable distribution, ranging from sub-arctic regions 
to the Mediterranean. It is stated to occur from the shore— 
though this would appear unusual—to a depth of 40 fathoms. 
Several days of heavy seas had preceded that on which 
I found the crab at Canty Bay, and the presence with it of 
flyas coarctatus, also a deeper water species, would point 
to both having been brought inshore by the storm. 
