256 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



which had been obtained from the abdominal limbs of a female 

 of the Common Spider-Crab (Hyas araneus). About half of 

 these eggs were eaten by the Four-horned Spider-Crabs, but 

 they did not seem to eat them with the same avidity as they had 

 eaten their own. Perhaps the fact that the eggs of the Hyas 

 were not fresh, but well advanced in development, may have 

 had something to do with this. A number of eggs, which were 

 nearly ready for hatching, of the Sea-bullhead (Cottus bubalis) 

 were refused altogether. 



It is familiar to those who have kept in aquaria certain 

 crustaceans, such as the Shore-Crab, the Velvet Crab, the Cray- 

 fish, and the Common Prawn, that these animals will select 

 convenient holes or corners amongst the rocks which they use 

 as permanent resting places, from which they only venture to 

 get food, and to which they retreat when alarmed. None of the 

 Four-horned Spider-Crabs observed by me have had such 

 special resting places. They will remain almost motionless 

 during the daytime in one spot, but after dark they move away 

 to feed, and then retire to a fresh place when daylight returns. 

 This is, of course, intelligible when it is remembered that the 

 Spider-Crab carries a disguising mass of seaweed, while the 

 Shore-Crab, Crayfish, and Prawn have no such protection. 



Bell says of the Four-horned Spider-Crabs that, " not- 

 withstanding their timid and lazy character, they seize the 

 object of their anger by a sudden and unexpected snap, and nip 

 with great force, holding on with extraordinary firmness and 

 tenacity, although unable, from the bluntness of their pincers, 

 to inflict a wound." * None of the females or small-clawed 

 males observed by me have attempted to bite or to strike with their 

 claws, however much they were annoyed, and I have frequently 

 taken fresh and healthy individuals in my fingers for examination 

 without their making any hostile demonstration. The females, 

 for example, whose abdomens I turned back in order to look for 

 eggs, made no attempt to defend themselves. Bell's remarks may 

 perhaps refer only to adult males, in which the claws are much 

 larger than they are in females and immature males. 



* Ibid. p. 25 



