Decapod Crustacea of the North Atlantic. 193 



are recorded as ranging is worthy of notice, Of the 18 

 inhabitants of the neighbourhood of the bottom which are 

 recorded as taken below 1000 fathoms, 9 have a recorded 

 range of over 800 fathoms, and one of them, Parapagurus 

 pilosimanus, of nearly 2000 fathoms. The case of the Para- 

 pagurus is very remarkable. It was taken at fifteen stations and 

 in 'from 250 to 640 fathoms by the < Fish Hawk ' and < Blake ' 

 in 1880-82, and in great abundance at one station in 319 

 fathoms, where nearly four hundred large specimens were 

 taken at once. All these earlier specimens were inhabiting 

 carcinoecia of Epizoanthus paguriphilus. 



In the t Albatross ' dredgings of 1883-85 it was taken at 

 twenty-one stations, ranging in depth from 353 to 2221 

 fathoms ; but at fourteen of these stations, all of which were 

 below 1500 fathoms, none of the specimens were associated 

 with the same species of Epizoanthus, some of them being in 

 Epizoanthus abyssorum, others in naked gastropod shells, and 

 others still in an actinian polyp, apparently the Urticina 

 consors 7 Verrill, which often serves for the carcinoecium of 

 Sympagurus pictus from 164 to 264 fathoms. 



The large size of many of the species is very remarkable, 

 but no more so than the apparent absence of all very small 

 species of Decapoda from the abyssal fauna. Of the forty- 

 nine species enumerated above, not one can be considered small 

 for the group to which it belongs, while more than a dozen 

 of them are very large. Geryon quinquedens is one of the 

 largest Brachyurans known, the carapace in some specimens 

 being 5 inches long and 6 broad ; specimens of the great spiny 

 Lithodes Agassizii measure 7 inches in length and 6 in breadth 

 of carapace, and the outstretched legs over 3 feet in extent ; 

 Munidopsis crassa, Bairdii, and rostrata are the three largest 

 known species of Galatheidas ; Sabinea princeps reaches over 

 5 inches in length, and is probably the largest known Cran- 

 gonid, though its size is very nearly equalled by the species 

 of Glyphocrangon ; Notostomus robustus is often 6 inches in 

 length and very stout ; Pasiphae princeps attains a length of 

 nearly 3 inches, and is a giant in the family to which it 

 belongs ; Aristeus ? tridens equals a foot in length, and is but 

 little larger than Hepomadus tener ; and Sergestes robustus 

 and mollis are apparently the largest known species of Ser- 

 gestidse. 



The colour of the abyssal Decapoda is very characteristic. 

 A few species are apparently nearly colourless ; but the great 

 majority are some shade of red or orange, and I have seen no 

 evidence of any other bright colour. A few species from 

 between 100 and 300 fathoms are conspicuously marked with 





