100 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Portunus puber, Leach. 



This is by far the largest, most handsome, and, as an article 

 of food, the most useful species of this genus. Its chief dis- 

 tinctive characters, besides its size, are its colour and covering of 

 densely set hairs, its markings, and the anterior denticulation of 

 its carapace. As regards its colour, this appears to vary slightly 

 in different localities, but down among the rock-pools of the 

 luxuriant Jersey shores it may perhaps be seen in its best 

 conditions. 



The hairy covering gives it a beautiful warm reddish-brown 

 tint, which throws up in rich contrast the delicate cream-coloured 

 markings on the smooth portions of the limbs, relieved here and 

 there by tints of bright, yet soft, blue. Leach's figure, in his 

 1 Malacostraca Britannia,' is not at all exaggerated. Its markings 

 also are more decided than those of the other species. As 

 regards the remaining distinctive feature, that portion of the 

 margin of the carapace between the orbits is divided into two 

 semicircular, very finely serrated portions, not resembling in any 

 degree that part of any other of the Brachyura. 



The ova of Portunus puber are remarkably minute, and are of 

 a dull, dirty black appearance when mature. They exist in 

 countless numbers under the broad abdominal segments of 

 the female, during the early summer months, and no doubt 

 constitute the food, when hatched, of many inhabitants of 

 the sea. 



This crab is much eaten as an article of luxury, and may be 

 seen in large heaps on the stalls in the markets at St. Heliers, 

 Jersey, and St. Peter's, Guernsey, where they are tied up alive 

 in small bundles. They are known there by the name of "Crabbe 

 gregaise"; and on the south coast of England they are called 

 "Fiddlers," or "Velvet Fiddlers," also " Lady Crabs " ; in France, 

 "Crabbe enragee." 



This species attains its greatest size on our southern shores, 

 where it is also most common. It is extremely abundant about the 

 Channel Islands, as also on the Dorset, Devon, and Cornish 

 coasts. It is stated to be common on the Irish shores, Galwa)', 

 Belfast, and Dublin being given as localities. Besides these 

 it has been recorded from Moray Firth and the Hebrides, so that 

 its distribution is evidently of great extent. 



