450 



THE RACING GRAB. 



male always remaining in the post of danger at the month of the tunnel, and keeping guard 

 with his great claw at the entrance. 



While running, it has a habit of holding the large claw aloft, and moving it as if beckon- 

 ing to some one, a habit which has caused one of the species to be named the Calling Crab. 

 This action has in it something very ludicrous, and those who have watched the proceedings of 

 a crab-warren say that there are few scenes more ridiculous than that which is presented by 

 the crustaceans when they are alarmed and go scuttling over the ground to their homes, 

 holding up their claws and beckoning in all directions. The generic name is derived from a 

 Greek word signifying laughter, and is given to the crabs because no one can look at them 

 without laughing. These crustaceans possess very long footstalks, on which their eyes are 

 placed, but, as has already been mentioned, the second joint of the footstalk is long and the 

 first is short. 



The Fiddler Crabs, or, as they are called also, Fighting Crabs, are represented in America 

 by the Gelasimus pugillator. They are characterized by the singular difference between the 

 two fore-arms. The above description and figure apply very closely to the American form. 

 We have seen thousands of these crabs, of the same uniform size, throughout the army, which 

 they simulated, covering an area of many yards on a smooth beach. 



The ludicrous uplifting of the great arm — though sometimes earning for them the name of 

 fiddlers, the arms looking like bass viols — when these creatures were moving together, suggested 

 most readily an army on the march, and manoeuvring meantime. An interesting feature was 

 observed, in that being crowded closely, each touching 'the next, their movements were the 

 result of simultaneous impulse. The whole army would lie seen approaching you, steadily as 

 a heavy column of troops ; anon the entire mass wheeled, or changed instantly, and with the 

 greatest precision, to oblique march or in echelon. We observed this at Cedar Keys, in West 

 Florida. 



This crab is not uniformly distributed in New England, being found in scattered localities. 

 We never saw it in the vicinity of Boston, Mass. 



A beautiful species called Lady- 

 crar, or Sand-crab (Platyoniculus 

 ocellatus), was once found in the 

 harbor-side waters near Boston, biit 

 is now nearly if not quite extinct 

 in the eastern portions of New Eng- 

 land. 



Closely allied to these creatures 

 is the Raci ng Crab ( Oeypode cursor), 

 sometimes called the Sand-crab, from 

 its habit of burrowing in the sand. 

 In our illustration it is represented 

 of the natural size. Sir J. Emerson 

 Tennent, in his "Natural History of 

 Ceylon," writes as follows of this 

 crab: "In the same localities, or a little inland, the Ocypode burrows in the dry soil, 

 making deep excavations, bringing up literally armfuls of sand, which, with a spring in 

 the air, and employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing it in a 

 circle to the distance of many feet. So inconvenient are the operations of these industrious 

 pests, that men are kept regularly employed at Colombo in filling up the holes formed by them 

 on the surface of the Galle Pace. This, the only equestrian promenade of the capital, is so 

 infesteil by these active little creatures, that accidents often occur through horses stiimbling in 

 their troublesome excavations. " 



These crabs run with surprising swiftness, and it is by no means easy to catch them before 

 they escape into their burrows. Sometimes they are made to afford a few hours' amusement 

 to military officers and other persons who have too much time on their hands, the struggle 

 between man and crab being as exciting as the battle between an eagle and a salmon. One 



RACING CRAB.— Ocypode cursor. 



