BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS. 69 



little creatures in the water. They are about three or four inches 

 long, and of generally green colour. All the species are widely 

 distributed throughout the oriental region, and are very common 

 on the coral reefs of Australia. There is another species named 

 Gonodactylus graphurus, equally widely distributed, but rarer; 

 distinguished by a median keel on the sixth segment and several 

 small prominences on the tail. There are other species besides, 

 which I need not particularise, so let us pass to the other order or 

 Decapoda, which are so called because they have always ten legs, 

 with a strong large shell, besides having their gills contained in an 

 enclosed chamber. 



The Decapoda are divided into three tribes, viz., the Macrura 

 or long-tailed, the Brachyura or short-tailed, and the Anomura or 

 irregular-tailed. The Macrura include the lobsters, shrimps and 

 prawns, which are very well represented in Malaysia. Most of 

 the prawns have a wide range and extend even to Australia. 

 Thus Penceus canaliculatus, which is commonly seen in the markets 

 and of large size, is common on the coast of Australia as well as 

 the south coast of China and Japan, and extends from the Gulf of 

 Suez on the one side to the Loyalty Islands on the other. There 

 are five or six other species which are equally widely distributed. 

 All kinds of prawns are called Hudang by the Malays. 



The rivers of the Malay Peninsula and some of the islands 

 have one species at least of freshwater prawn (Palcemon ornatus ?) 

 and probably another small species known to naturalists as 

 Leander natator. 



The crabs or short-tailed Decapoda are well represented in all 

 the waters which wash the Malayan coasts, with some land 

 representatives as well. The Malays call them Ketam or Katam. 

 In the Philippine dialects this becomes Catang, besides similar 

 terms in the cognate dialects, but the spelling is liable to great 

 variation. As articles of food, most of the species are highly 

 valued by the natives. The methods adopted in fishing for them 

 call for no special remark. Crab and lobster traps are used. 

 It is in these seas that that extraordinary Brachyuran, the spinose 

 Parthenope (P. horrida, L.) occurs. It has a singular and formidable 



