68 FISHERIES OP THE ORIENTAL REGION, 



Amongst the Malacostraca I can only pause to consider two 

 orders of the sub-division Podopthalmata, which have a carapace, 

 and their eyes mounted on stalks. These are Stomapoda and 

 Decapoda. The former have six or eight pairs of legs, the gills 

 are not enclosed in a cavity, and the shell is comparatively thin. 

 The commonest example of this is the Squilla nepa or Squilla 

 mantis, an animal which is often seen and taken for food amongst 

 the islands of the Archipelago. It may be easily known by its 

 zebra-like markings, and by the dactyli of the raptorial limbs 

 being armed with six spines. The carapace is usually marked 

 with more or less distinct longitudinal ribs, The long spines at 

 the interior margin of the dactyli are formidable weapons and 

 capable of giving deep wounds ; it must therefore be handled 

 with care. 



The Mantisquilla must not be confounded with the Pseudosquilla, 

 which is much smaller, and has no longitudinal ridges on the cara- 

 pace, while the dactyli of the raptorial limbs are armed with three 

 slender spines including the terminal, which is the longest. The 

 Malays call this Hudang-laut or sea-prawn. 



There is another small Squilla named Gonodactylus chiragra, 

 which is allied to Pseudosquilla-, but the penultimate joint of the 

 raptorial limbs is not armed with a comb of teeth, and the dactylus 

 is considerably dilated at the base, and is capable of giving a severe 

 wound to those who are inconsiderate enough to meddle with these 



similar position for hours perfectly quiet, on the bottom of the jars where 

 they are kept. When they cast their skin it invariably keeps the same 

 attitude on the bottom of the jar. It is not an uncommon thing to find on 

 beaches, where Limulus is common, hundreds of skins thrown up and left 

 dry by the tide, the greater part of which are turned on their backs. An 

 additional point to be brought forward to show that the Trilobites probably 

 passed the greater part of their life on the backs, and died in that attitude, 

 is that the young Limulus generally feed while turned on their backs; 

 moving at an angle with the bottom, the hind extremity raised, they throw 

 out their feet beyond the anterior edge of the carapace, browsing, as it 

 were upon what they find in their roads, and washing away what they do 

 not need by means of a powerful current produced by the abdominal 

 appendages." Amer. Jour. Sci., January 1878. 



