336 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



green colors, and many of them have the elytra more or less marked with 

 white. Mr. S. I. Smith found the larva of our largest species (C. gene- 

 rosa) at Fire Island, living in holes in the sand below high- water mark, 

 associated with the species of Talorcliestia. 



Beneath the decaying sea- weeds on the sandy shores immense num- 

 bers of the lively little crustacean, Orcliestia agilis, (p. 314, Plate IV, 

 fig. 14,) may always be found. Two other related species, of larger size 

 and paler colors, but having the same habit of leaping, though not in 

 such a high degree, occur among the weeds, or burrowing in the sand, 

 or beneath drift-wood, &c, a little below high-water mark. In fact the 

 sand is sometimes completely filled with their holes, of various sizes. 

 Both these species are stout in form, and become about an inch long 

 when mature. One of them, Talorcliestia longicomis, can be easily dis- 

 tinguished by its very long antennas ; the other, T. megalophthalma, by its 

 shorter antennae and very large eyes. Both these species are pale gray- 

 ish, and imitate the color of the sand very perfectly. When driven 

 from their burrows by unusually high tides or storms they are capable 

 of swimming actively in the water. They make dainty morsels for fishes 

 and many shore birds, as well as for certain crabs, especially Ocypoda 

 arenaria. 



On sandy beaches near high-water mark, especially where the sand is 

 rather compact and somewhat sheltered, one of the " fiddler-crabs," 

 Gelasimus pugilator, is frequently found in great numbers, either run- 

 ning actively about over the sand, or peering cautiously from their holes, 

 which are often thickly scattered over considerable areas. These holes 

 are mostly from half an inch to an inch in diameter, and a foot or more 

 in depth, the upper part nearly perpendicular, becoming horizontal be- 

 low, with a chamber at the end. Mr. Smith, by lying perfectly still for 

 some time on the sand, succeeded in witnessing their mode of dig- 

 ging. In doing this they drag up pellets of moist sand, which they 

 carry under the three anterior ambulatory legs that are on the rear side, 

 climbing out of their burrows by means of the legs of the side in front, 

 aided by the posterior leg of the other side. After arriving at the 

 mouth of their burrows and taking a cautious survey of the landscape, 

 they run quickly to the distance often of four or five feet from the bur- 

 row before dropping their load, using the same legs as before and carry- 

 ing the dirt in the same manner. They then take another careful sur- 

 vey of the surroundings, run nimbly back to the hole, and after again 

 turning their pedunculated eyes in every direction, suddenly disappear, 

 soon to reappear with another load. They work in this way both in the 

 night and in the brightest sunshine, whenever the tide is out and the 

 weather is suitable. In coming out or going into their burrows either 

 side may go in advance, but the male more commonly comes out with 

 the large claw forward. According to Mr. Smith's observations this 

 species is a vegetarian, feeding upon the minute algae which grow upon 

 the moist sand. In feeding the males use only the small claw with which 



