GENERAL ZOOLOGY. 35 



The Hermit Crabs, so far as our observations went, are not plentiful. 

 Pagurus punctulatus, M. Edw., was secured in a dead specimen of Turbo 

 imperialis ; it is a widely distributed species. A second and very pretty 

 crab was found in a young shell of the same mollusc, the ambulatory legs 

 cross-banded in variegated colours. Fragments of a Palinurus were shown 

 to us, perhaps those of P. ornatus, JFabr., and we were informed that the 

 Sydney Crawfish, P. Huegellii, Heller, was also indigenous to the island. 

 Should this be so, it is possible that the well-stocked waters of Lord Howe 

 Island would form an excellent preserving ground for this most delicious of 

 all the Australian Crustacea. 



The Crangonidae are represented by Alpheus JEdwardsi, Aud., one of the 

 " Nippers." This Crustacean afforded Mr. "Whitelegge much amusement 

 when collecting, by the peculiar clicking noise made when an individual was 

 thrust into the collecting jar, just like the sudden cracking of a bottle. So 

 deceptive was the noise, that on several occasions the jar was examined to 

 ascertain if it had burst, and it was some time before the obvious explana- 

 tion was grasjued. Dr. Coppinger, in his account of the "Alert's"* cruise, 

 describes a similar phenomenon. Speaking of a dredge-haul in Port Curtis, 

 he says : — "Conspicuous by their abundance amongst the contents of the 

 dredges, and by their curious habit of making a low, snapping noise, with 

 the large pincer-claws, were the shrimps of the genus Alpheus. When 

 placed in water in a glass jar, the sound produced exactly resembles the 

 snap which is heard when a tumbler is cracked from unequal expansion of 

 hot water." 



The only Stomapod noticed was the well-known Australian tropical reef 

 Squilla, Goniodaciylus chiragra, Fabr. 



Not the least interesting crustacean we obtained was an Isopod, a species 

 of the genus Ourozeuktes, which lives parasitically within the oral cavities of 

 fish. We found it frequenting the Sweep, Scorpis cequipinnis, Eich. A 

 small Cirripede is attached freely to a multitude of marine terrestrial objects 

 scattered about the beach. It is probably Lepas pectinata, Spengler. This 

 habit of fixing itself in small clusters to almost anything is referred to by 

 Darwin,t who mentions, amongst other things, Spirula, on which we also 

 saw it. Its geographical range is wide, extending from " the North of 

 Ireland to off Cape Horn," and it is also common under the tropics. The 

 equally widely distributed Lepas anserif era, Linn., also occurs at Lord Howe. 

 The volcanic rocks at Ned's Beach, along the high-water mark, and possibly 

 also those at other parts of the Island are thickly dotted over with Tetraclita 

 rosea, Kraus, [=3alanus Gumingii, Chenu.], a barnacle common to the east 

 coast of Australia from Moreton Bay to Twofold Bay, attached, Darwin 

 says, to " littoral rocks and shells." 



The following is a complete list of the Crustacea, so far as at present 

 determined by Mr. Whitelegge : — 



Menasthius monoceros, Lath. 



Lophactsea granulosa, Riip. 



Actsea tomentosa, M. Edw. 



Actsea rugata, A & W. 



Actsea, sp. 



Xanthodes atromanus, Hasw. 



Xantho ? integer, De Haan. 



Medseus, sp. 



* Cruise of the w Alert," 1883, p. 182. 



f Mon. Sub-class Cirripedia. Lepadidse, 1851, p. 85. 



