196 
CRUSTACEA. 
Palinueus, Fah. 
The lateral anteniicie are large, setaceous, and bristled with 
spines. 
Of these Crustacea, called Carahos by the Greeks, aud Locusta by 
the Latins, and on which Aristotle made several important observa- 
tions, some attain a length of nearly two metres, the antennee in- 
cluded. The species found in European seas remain in deep Avater 
during the Avinter, and only visit tlie coast on the return of spring. 
Rocky localities are its faA'ourite haunts. It subsequently deposits 
its ova, Avhich are of a beautiful red colour, Avhence their name of 
Coral. At this period more males are taken than females, Avhile 
after the spaAvning season the latter are most abundant. According 
to Risso a second copulation, folloAved by another production of ova, 
takes place in the month of August. Tlie Palinuri are disseminated 
throughout all the seas of the temperate and intertropical zones, but 
arc particularly abundant in the latter. Their shell is rough, covered 
Avith prickles, and armed in front Avith stout, projecting, and more 
or less numerous spines or teeth. Its colour, as also that of the tail, 
consists of an agreeable mixture of red, green, and yelloAv. The tail 
frequently presents transverse bands or spots, sometimes ocellatcd, 
arranged in regular series. Their flesh, that of the females particu- 
larly, before and after the spaAvning season, is highly esteemed. 
In the s])ecies taken on the coast of France, and probably in others, 
the extremity of the pemdtimate joint of the tAvo posterior feet of 
the female is provided Avith a tooth or spur peculiar to the sex. The 
same observation applies to the Scyllari. 
P alinurus quadricornis. Fab.; Astacus elephas, Herbst., xxix, 
1 ; Leach, Malac. Brit., xxx, or the Lanqouste commune of the 
French, is sometimes half a metre in length, and Aidien loaded 
Avith ova Aveighs from tAvelve to fourteen pounds. The shell is 
spinous and doAvny, Avith tAvo stout teeth notched beneath l)e- 
fore the eyes. The superior surface of the body is of a greenish 
or reddish broAvii; the tail is spotted and dotted Avitli yelloAvish, 
and its segments are marked liy a transverse sulcus interrupted 
in the middle, its lateral edges forming a dentated angle. The 
feet are picked in Avith red and yelloAvish. It inhabits the coasts 
of France, that of the Mediterranean in particular. It is found 
fossil in Italy *. 
The third section, that of the Astacini, Latr., is distinguished 
from the preceding by the form of the tAvo anterior feet, and fre- 
* M. Desmarest, Hist. Nat. des Crust. Foss., p. 132, speaks of two other fossil 
species, the second of which, however, may probably belong: to the subgeims As- 
taceous properly so called, and approach the A. nonreginis of Fabricius. 
For the other living species, see Ann. dii RIus. d’Hist. Nat., t. Ill, p. 391, et seq. ; 
the article Palviure, Eneyc. Method., and its Atlas d’Hist. Nat. ; that of Lunymts/e, 
Noiiv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., Ed. II, and the same in the work of Desmarest on the 
Crustacea. As respects the nervous system of the species that inhabits the French 
coast, see Audouin and Edwards, op. cit. ; accoi-ding to them, all the thoracic gan- 
glions are as if soldered together, end to end. 
