34 
S. I. Smith — Crustaceans of the Atlantic Coast. 
Carcinus msenas Leach ex Linne. 
Provincetown !, Massachusetts, 1872, to New Jersey!, 1871. The 
European coast !, from Finmark (M. Sars) and the Baltic (Mobius) 
to both sides of the Mediterranean (Grube, Lucas, Heller) and the 
Black Sea (Ratlike). It has also been reported from Brazil by Heller 
(Reise der Novara, Crust., p. 30, 1865) and from the Hawaiian Islands 
by Streets (American Naturalist, xi, p. 241 ; and Bulletin United 
States National Museum, No. 7, p. 109, 1877). In the Museum of 
Yale College there is a single specimen, unquestionably of this species, 
which was sent from Panama Bay, with a large collection of other 
marine animals, in 1866, by Professor F. H. Bradley. At these last 
three localities it seems to be very rare, and possibly accidental. 
The range of this species upon the eastern coast of North America, 
as far as I can ascertain from positive information, is very limited. 
Streets states that “ it is by no means an uncommon crab along the 
whole extent of the eastern coast of the United States,” but gives 
no special localities, and 1 am inclined to believe that he generalized, 
very naturally, without carefully examining the facts. From personal 
observation, I know the species is common and often very abundant 
in Vineyard Sound, Buzzard’s Bay, various parts of Long Island 
Sound, and in the bays on the south side of Long Island. I also ob- 
served it at Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1872, and at Great Egg 
Harbor, New Jersey, in 1871. From beyond these limits, either 
north or south, I have never seen specimens nor any positive record of 
their occurrence. It is not a regular inhabitant of Casco Bay or the 
Bay of Fundy. I have examined several large collections from Fort 
Macon, North Carolina, and others from the coast of South Carolina, 
both coasts of Florida, Key West, and the east coast of Mexico, 
without finding a single individual of the species. It is not mentioned 
in Stimpson’s list of Beaufort, North Carolina, species (Amer. Jour. 
Sci., II, xxix, p. 444, 1860), nor that of Coues for the same locality 
(Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1871, p. 120), nor is it men- 
tioned from special localities in the Southern States by Gibbes, nor by 
any one else as far as I am aware. I know of no other common spe- 
cies of crustacean with a similarly restricted habitat upon our coast. 
It is most abundant between tides or near low-water mark and is 
seldom found below a very few fathoms in depth. 
