Crustacea Decapoda and Stomatopoda. 231 



Genus Eriocheir, de Haan. 

 Eriocheir japonicus (de Haan). 



1835. Grapsits (Eriocheir) japonicus, de Haan, in Siebold's Fauna Japonica, Crust., p. 59, 

 pi. xvii. 



This is the common edible crab of the main island of Japan and is sold in large 

 numbers at Kyoto. It is said to be migratory in habit, making its way towards the sea 

 or into lakes after heavy rain. There is a specimen in the Otsu laboratory from the 

 southern end of lyake Biwa, but Dr. Annandale was unable to find examples in the 

 lake in October and November 1915. Young and half -grown specimens were abun- 

 dant in the main channel of the Yodo River, just above Osaka, at the beginning of 

 December. The species does not appear to have been found in the sea ; it has occa- 

 sionally been recorded from brackish water, but is almost always found in water that 

 is quite fresh. 



Four very large specimens obtained in the Kyoto market and said to have come 

 from Echizen province to the north of Lake Biwa yield the following measurements 

 (in mm.) : — ■ 



Length of carapace 



Greatest breadth of carapace 



Length of chelipede 



Length of chela 



Breadth of chela 



Length of second walking leg 



In the largest males the whole palm on both outer and inner sides, except for a 

 small area at the proximal end of the lower surface, is thickly covered with woolly 

 hair, which also invests the anterior margin of the carpus and the base of the dactylus. 

 In other males, with carapace about 38 mm. in length, the hair is less abundant ; the 

 entire lower surface of the palm is bare, on the inner side there is only a comparatively 

 small patch in the neighbourhood of the finger-cleft and there is very little on the 

 anterior margin of the carpus. In males between 11 and 12 mm. in length the chela 

 is apparently nude, but on close inspection is seen to be largely covered with a fine 

 and very close pubescence. In these smallest individuals the carapace is flatter and 

 its antero-lateral margins are straighter than in adults. 



Eriocheir sinensis (Milne- Edwards) . 



1854. Eriochirus sinensis, Milne-Edwards, Arch. Mus. Hist. nat. Paris, VII, p. 146, pi, ix, 



figs. i-ic. 

 1880. Eriocheir sinensis, Kingsley, Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 210. 



The collection contains a large male and female from Moo-Too, Tai Hu, Kiangsu 

 province, China, and a number of young individuals obtained in the Whangpoo River, 

 between Shanghai and Woosung at depths of 5| to 7^ metres. The carapace of the 

 largest specimen is 54 mm. in length. 



c? 



<f 



5 



9 



.- 83 



82 



67 



66 



.. 94 



91 



73 



72 



•• 134 



13Q 



76 



75 



.. 82 



82 



43 



43 



•• 4.5 



44 



22 



21 



• • 155 



151 



123 



128 



