BRITISH STALK-EYED CRUSTACEA. 15 
growths, or local divergencies of the same species, the form 
known as G. stellata must be of rare occurrence, as 1 have not 
met with it in Jersey, whence I have obtained scores of G. deltura. 
Bell, however, says that the distinction between the species was 
discovered by Mr. J. D. C. Sowerby. 
The colour of Gebia deltwra is a dull yellowish brown, the 
anterior portion of the carapace is thickly bristled, and the 
hands are furnished with tufts of stiff hairs arranged in lines. 
The abdominal segments widen considerably at the fourth and 
fifth somites, and the middle plates of the tail are nearly square. 
The eggs of this species are exuded in the early part of the 
year; they are of a rich amber tint and translucent, becoming 
Opaque as they mature. Like all burrowing species, G. deltura 
carries comparatively few ova, the zoex being doubtless not so 
exposed to the dangers as are those of less protected species, 
though what the early life-history of this species is I cannot 
say, nor do I think its zoea-form has ever been taken from its 
natural habitat. 
Gebia deltwra, as above stated, is a burrower, and is therefore 
but seldom met with. Bell even goes so far as to state that the 
only specimens he ever saw were those in the British Museum. 
Jersey does not appear to have been worked in those days, and I 
should imagine that it is the home, so far as our seas are 
concerned, of many of our rare southern forms, and this 
amongst others. Being a burrower, and one, too, that forms 
“runs? many feet in length and of considerable depth beneath 
the surface of the sand, it is a somewhat difficult task to dig it 
out, as that must necessarily be done at low tide, when the sand- 
bank is dry. I should imagine, however, that it either emerges 
altogether from its burrow when the tide rises, or at any rate 
comes nearer to the entrance of it; for, when digging for 
any of these fossorial crustaceans, I have noticed that the 
proper time to select is when the tide is flowing, and has almost 
reached the spot selected. Again, they have been recorded 
as occurring in the stomachs of fishes of the Raia genus, and 
the Ray could not obtain them for food if they were two or three 
feet deep in the sand. 
Gebia deltura is recorded from Plymouth and Jersey, the 
specimens I have seen being all from the latter place, and 
number over one hundred ; so that, considering the difficulty of 
