Crustacea. 3683 



Common Pea Crab, Pinnotheres Pisum. First made known as a 

 denizen of the Moray Firth, by Dr. lnnes, Forres. It has since been 

 occasionally met with, as at Lossiemouth, Rev. Mr. Weir. The lar- 

 ger specimens of the common mussel at the bar of Findhorn are re- 

 ported as not unfrequently containing the pea crab. 



Pennant's Nut Crab, Ebalia Pennantii. Rare. 



Cranch's Nut Crab, Ebalia Cranchii. Frequent on the fishing- 

 grounds. Dredged in August, 1852, five miles north of Stotfield-head. 

 This crab frequently affords the best preserved specimens of Crusta- 

 ceans that are to be found in that curious agglomeration of the vesti- 

 ges of organic life — the contents of the fish-stomach. From their 

 small size, they often escape the bruising power of the teeth, and the 

 hardness of the carapace resists for a time the attrition and the dis- 

 solving power to which they are afterwards subjected. 



The Face Crab, or Circular Crab, Atelecyclus heterodon. Occa- 

 sionally met with in the Moray Firth. 



Northern Stone Crab, Lit/todes Main. This is " one of the rarer 

 species of our British Crustacea," as well as one of the most attrac- 

 tive, from " the spiny armature of the body." It has been found both 

 at Lossiemouth and at Gamrie, from which latter place there is a fine 

 specimen sent to the Elgin Museum by Mr. Harris. 



Common Hermit Crab, Pagurus Bemhardus. The young are very 

 abundant in almost every pool left on the rocky shores by the tide, and 

 are most ignorantly looked upon, by many who should know better, as 

 the spawn of the lobster! The older individuals, inhabiting the larger 

 univalves, are frequently brought up from the deep sea, entangled in 

 the fishermen's lines or nets. 



Pagurus Cuanensis. A specimen from the Moray Firth, closely re- 

 sembling that figured under this name, is placed in the Elgin Museum. 



Pagurus Icevis. Frequent in the Firth, and, judging from the habits 

 of the fishes that prey upon it, it does not come near the shore. 



Minute Porcelain Crab, Porcellana longicornis. Frequently to be 

 met with in small communities under stones at low water. They are 

 to be found abundantly on '* the Skerries," off Covesea light-house. 

 The voracious cod does not overlook this puny Crustacean ; but, in 

 feeding on it, makes numbers compensate for its small size. The 

 other British species, Pagurus platycheles, although known to extend 

 " from the Orkneys to the Land's End," has not yet been detected in 

 the Moray Firth. 



Common Plated Lobster, Galathea strigosa. Two fine specimens, 

 procured at Stotfield by Mr. James Scott, in 185*2, and those noticed 



