70 FISHERIES OF THE ORIENTAL REGION, 



heart-shaped carapace, which, together with the long ponderous 

 claws are covered with the roughest spines and tubercles. Spinose 

 crabs are rather the rule in this region. When dredging off the 

 Dindings almost every cast of the net brought up numbers of the 

 long-armed and spinose species of Lambrus. The little smooth 

 nut-crabs, Leucosia and Myra, were equally common from about 

 10 fathoms. I also found more than one species of those long 

 slender-clawed- spider-crabs (Iphis), with curious projections from 

 the carapace. The spotted crab is also a denizen of these regions, 

 known to naturalists as Carpilius, remarkable for the round and 

 smooth carapace with peculiar notches and projections, huge claws 

 and three, four, or five large round red spots. In the Straits of 

 Malacca also occurs the tortoise-crab {Calappa hepatica, L.), but it 

 is generally distributed throughout all the oriental region, extend- 

 ing, with Carpilius, Lambrus, Myra, &o, along all the coasts of 

 tropical Australia. . Indeed it may be said that with regard to the 

 Crustacea, the differences between Australia and Malaysia are not 

 numerous, while the species common to both would make too long 

 a list for insertion here. In the tortoise-crab the carapace is wide, 

 extending over the limbs like a dome, and perfectly covering 

 them, even though the claws are very large and compressed, and 

 has a wide projecting shell on the upper margin. When squatted 

 down, with their limbs securely housed, they are like a box. The 

 name Calappa is derived from the Malay word for cocoa-nut, but 

 according to Rumphius the crustacean is also called Cattam-bisa 

 or the poisoned-crab. 



It would be useless to attempt to enumerate all the different 

 species of crabs that are found in this region. I may mention 

 Ketam-batu or r stone-crab, a large species, Ketam-ayam, Neptunus 

 pelagicus, which is the common edible crab of Sydney in Australia, 

 Ranina dentata or Ketam-Radoc, the toothed 'frog-crab which is 

 said to travel on land and clamber over the roofs of houses. This 

 last-named is one of the very grotesque forms, with a carapace 

 like a scoop, and disproportionately small abdomen : rough, white, 

 spiny projections on the edge of the shell looking like artificial 

 teeth complete the curious make-up. 



