102 SEA-SHORE LIFE 



late in tlie summer. It is mottled in brown and dull yellow, and 

 matches its surroundings so perfectly when upon the gidf-weed, that 

 its discovery is practically impossible unless the weed be taken 

 from the water and shaken. The crab has paddle-shaped posterior 

 legs, and is a good swimmer, its side-legs being long and oar-like, 

 and fringed with delicate hairs. It becomes about one inch long 

 and one and three-quarters wide. A spine projects from each side 

 of the shell, and the pincers, although weak, are sharp. 



Another little square-shaped crab called I'laues mmiitusViYe^ 

 also among the gulf weed, and legend has it that Avhen Columbus 

 first saw this crab he reassured his timorous crew by stating that 

 land could not be far away. The crab, however, never visits the 

 laud, but spends its entire life upon the ocean. 



The Mud Crabs, ( T'anoijeus, Fig. 77, page 1(19 J. These are 

 small dark olive-brown crabs with large powerful claws and with 

 sharp pointed legs adapted to crawling. They are abundant in 

 Ijong Island Sound, but extend from the tropics to Massaclnisetts 

 Bay. The name "mud crab" is indicative of their fondness for 

 muddy shores, where they live under stones or in burrows within 

 muddy banks or marshes. There are several closely allied species 

 which have been carefully' separated and described by J. E. Bene- 

 dict and Mary J. Rathbun in "Proceedings of the U. S. National 

 Museum," A^ol. XIY, 1891, p. 355. Pis. XIX-XXIV, 



A common mud crab of Long Island Sound is Pavopeiis lieih- 

 stii, Fig. 77, which ranges from Brazil to Rhode Island. It lives 

 within biTrrows in moist, muddy banks or under stones on muddy 

 bottoms. It becomes one and one-half inches broad, and is dull 

 brown-green in color. A smaller species with a flat-backed 

 shell, only about three-quarters of an inch in width, is Pantipeiis cle- 

 2}i-es-'iii-'<. It maj' also lie distinguished liy its lilack-colored nippers. 



The Rock Crab, ((Jancer irrorattis, Fig. 71), is the common crab 

 of the New England coast north of Cape Cod, although it ranges 

 from South Carolina to Labrador. It is most abundant a little below 

 low tide level but also lives between tides, where it is usually found 

 under stones, in rocky crevices or buried beneath the sand when 

 the tide is out. Above it is dull brick-red in colrir speckled over 

 with small brownish spots, while the under parts are yellow. Seen 

 from above the shell is oval without sharp points at the side, but 



