5716 (Crustacea. 



upper part of hand nearly pure white, the tips of the claws excepted, 

 contrasting most curiously with the rest of the animal. I find that 

 the adults do not change their carapace annually. They may be 

 found covered with barnacles of considerable size, and you also find 

 their claws worn in a way you never see in the junior specimens. I 

 have seen the teeth of the fingers worn quite smooth, especially those 

 of the grasping claw. In the young specimens there is no distinction 

 between them. Local name "Green Crab," "Soft Crab" when just 

 exuviated, in which state they are largely used as bait. 



Variegated Swimming Crab (Portumnus variegatus, Leach). In 

 certain districts after easterly gales this species occurs rather plenti- 

 fully. I have never dredged nor met with it in any quantity under 

 other circumstances. 



Velvet Swimming Crab (Portunus puber, Linn, sp.) Common 

 among rocks in laminarian zone. Seldom captured in the dredge, 

 though tolerably frequent in the lobster and crab pots. The young 

 are curiously variegated. Many of the adults are nearly quite flat. 

 In ova in March. Local name for all the Portuni, "Tailors." 



Wrinkled Swimming Crab [Portunus corrugatus, Penn. sp.) Very 

 rare. I have never met but one, and that a very young specimen, in 

 strand pools near Merrion, after a heavy gale from the East, Novem- 

 ber, 1854. 



Arched-fronted Swimming Crab {Portunus arcuatus, Leach). A 

 single specimen at same time as last. The same remarks apply. 



Cleanser Swimming Crab (Portunus depurator, Leach). Local. 

 Probably only an inhabitant of the deeper zones. Occurs on the long 

 lines, and also in the dredge, on the scallop beds. In ova in March. 



Livid Swimming Crab [Portunus holsatus, Fabric.) Not rare. 

 Occurs on Merrion Strand in some numbers after easterly gales; 

 also dredged in extreme laminarian zone, on sandy bottoms. A 

 curious wrinkled variety of it occurs in Dalkey Sound, which may be 

 confounded with the young of P. depurator. This may prove to be 

 a separate species, but 1 think not. In ova in March. 



Dwarf Swimming Crab [Portunus pusillus, Leach). Very com- 

 mon in suitable localities in laminarian and coralline zones. In ova 

 in February. 



Common Pea Crab (Pinotheres pisum, Penn. sp.) Excessively 

 common. Nearly every Mytilus and Modiolus from the laminarian 

 and coralline zones contain this crab. 'J 'he females much more nu- 

 merous than the males. Both sexes rarely present together. 



