78 A Dredging Excursion. 



looking fellow, who tries to escape by awkwardly shambling, as 

 if he wanted to sknlk away and watch you at the same time ; that 

 first pair of legs is armed with remarkably strong thumbs and 

 fingers, as you will find to your cost if you come within range 

 of their operations, that is Garcinus moenas. 



Now my friend has recovered from his sickness, and by no 

 means disheartened, returns to the grubbing, evoking from the 

 mud a beautiful urchin, all covered with spines ; it proves to be 

 the Echinus Flemingii, a rare species, and not the common sea- 

 urchin, as at first we supposed. Another dive into the basket 

 brings out a single ray, what is it ? Part of a sand star ; and 

 on looking closely we find a disk with four rays, to which the 

 former one evidently once belonged, but he has parted with it 

 under the pressure of circumstances, as he was jammed in be- 

 tween two stones, from which perilous position you have just 

 rescued him and prevented further mutilation. Examine him 

 with your pocket lens, and youwill see thirty or forty imbri- 

 cated plates covering the rays ; examine also the small spines 

 on their sides, and count the teeth in the frill, at the base of 

 each ray, where it comes off from the disk. Another star also 

 emerges from the basket, a much smaller species ; these two 

 are OpMolepis texturata and 0. albida. But the boatman has 

 also been at work putting everything alive into the glass jar 

 beside him, and all at once we hear a knock, knock, tap, tap, 

 against the side of the jar. Looking in we see a large Buccinum, 

 moving most mysteriously over everything, so we turn the shell 

 round and find that it is tenanted by a Hermit crab. Pagurus 

 Bernharclus has made it her home, and is now inspecting the 

 new locality in which she finds herself, her long claws go clack- 

 ing against and over all impediments, the shell bobbing along 

 after. Look how she works those organs attached to her head, 

 feeling here, and listening there, as she stands still and gazes 

 out with those large goggle eyes. Give this crab a piece of 

 mussel and watch those internal and smaller antennge how they 

 move whilst feeding ; the jaw-feet, or pedipalps, shovelling the 

 food up, creating a constant current towards the mouth, and 

 making the water turbid with the sand attached to the mussel 

 shell. Having disposed of that dainty, a change of residence 

 is deemed advisable. See how cautiously she feels over that 

 empty shell with her long claws, the eyes staring intensely the 

 whole time, till satisfied with the proposed new tenement, the 

 body is carefully drawn out of the old shell, and with great 

 dexterity whisked into the new one, as if she were afraid that 

 some one would attack her from behind at this advantageous 

 moment. Another plunge brings up a twelve-rayed sun star„ 

 with his rich scarlet disk, the rays white and tipped with red 

 near the extremity ; put a small specimen into, and watch how 



