180 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



seems very doubtful whether this advantage is mutual. We must 

 not expect to find a crab in every Pinna-shell. 



Gonoplax angulatus, Fabr. 



This remarkable crab is a common Mediterranean species, but 

 it occurs frequently on our southern and south-western shores. 

 It fully justifies its popular name, "the Angular Crab," and its 

 curious forms in this and other respects cause it to be one of the 

 most interesting of the British Crustacea. 



Its carapace is much broader than long, with the sides almost 

 at right angles with the anterior and posterior margins, the former 

 being nearly straight, with the space between the orbits slightly 

 projecting. The anterior angles are armed with two spines, one 

 on either side. The lateral margin has one spine only projecting, 

 and not nearly so large as that at the angle. The first pair of 

 legs are remarkably long, broadest at the base of the forceps, the 

 latter long and toothed. The remaining legs long and attenuated, 

 the last three joints of the second and third pairs being furnished 

 with setse on the edges. The eyes are fixed upon very long 

 peduncles, which are capable of being turned back for pro- 

 tection beneath the anterior edge of the carapace so as to 

 be quite hidden. Abdominal segments seven in number in 

 both sexes ; the third segment of the male is broader than the 

 rest, and the posterior segments to this arc form a triangle. 

 Those of the female are oval, the fourth, fifth, and sixth being 

 the broadest. 



The colour of this remarkable species is yellowish or pinkish 

 red, occasionally bright and coral-like in its tints, but most 

 frequently dull. 



We have as yet had no specimens in ova, and so cannot speak 

 as to the date of spawning or the appearance of its ova. 



This rare species is stated by Prof. Bell to have first been 

 found in British waters by Montagu in the estuary of Kingsbridge, 

 Devon ; he also states that it has since been found on the coasts 

 of Cornwall and Wales, as well as Ireland. In the ' Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History' for 1870 this crab is recorded from 

 the Isle of Mull, its first appearance in Scotland. From the 

 reports of the British Association we gather that it has been 

 taken on the Cheshire coast (rare), South Devon (occasionally), 

 and Dublin (rare). In the 'Cornish Fauna' we learn tha tit is 



