CRUSTACEA OF THE CIIANXEE ISLANDS. 217 



Gebia deltura, Leach. Burrows in gravelly ground at low tide limit. 

 Occurs in all the islands, but not abundantly. It is, no doubt, the male 

 of this species which is the G. stelJata of Bell's book. 



Axius Stirhynehus, Leach. Much more common than either of the pre- 

 ceding, and often taken when digging for "rock worm" [Marphysa) 

 among rock detritus. The Jersey fishermen term it " La Lipotte." 



Homarus vulgaris, Edw. Common Lobster. Fairly abundant, but less 

 so than formerly in all our islands, and largely fished for our markets, 

 and to some extent for export. Pale blue and creamy-white varieties are 

 occasionally taken. I had a nearly pure white one in my aquarium for 

 two years. It changed its shell twice during that time, and the albinism 

 was constant. A curious particoloured example was taken off Guernsey 

 some years ago, and is now preserved in the Guille-Alles Museum. 

 Exactly one half of the body and limbs is white (the left side) , and the 

 other half the norinal dark blue colour, the dividing line being perfectly 

 straight down the back from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. 



Cpangon vulgaris, Fahr. Sand Shrimp. Common on all our sandy 



coasts. 



Crangon faseiatUS, Risso. On gravelly bottom, near low tide level. Jer- 

 sey, Guernsey, Herm. 



Crangon spinoSUS, Leach. Greve d'Azette, Jersey. I have seen but one 

 specimen. 



Crangon seulptUS, Bell. Not uncommon on gravelly shore at St. Clement's, 

 Jersey, and ]3retty certainly in the other islands also. 



Crangon trispinoSUS, Bell. More common than the last ; almost constant 

 among ordinary shrimps on the Jersey coast. 



Alpheus megaeheles, Xorwan. This splendid little crustacean is really a 

 ^[editerranean species which, like Steiiorhynchns egyptius, Scyllarus arctus, 

 Lysmata seticaudata, and some others, seems to be spreading northward. 

 Locally kuo^ai as the " Clicker," or " Clicking Lobster," from its peculiar 

 faculty of producing a loud snapping sound which may be exactly imitated 

 by smartly striking the two first fingers of one hand on the palm of the 

 other This sound is caused by the snapping of the moveable finger of 

 the large claw against a little concave circular plate on the apposed 

 portion ; the finger moving nearly laterally, not vertically as in all other 

 crustaceans. It can be heard on the shore for a considerable distance, 

 but is exceedingly difficult to locate, even more so than the chirp of the 

 black cricket, or the cry of the corncrake. This species occurs on the 

 shore in Guernsey, Herm, the VI inquier Reef , and, I think, St. Clement's 

 Bay, Jersey, where I have heard its click, but have not seen a Jersey 

 specimen. 



Nika edulis, Risso. Occurs under stones in gravelly places ; not common. 

 Jersey, Herm, Bordeaux Harbour, Guernsey. Eyes large, golden yellow, 

 glowing at night with a red light ; a curious feature in the aquarium 

 after dusk, where the bright eyes of the captive specimen are very striking, 

 although their owner is invisible. 



Athanas niteseens, Leach. Tolerably common in all the islands under 

 stones where there are little pools of water on gravel bottom near low tide 

 limit. Bell gives the colour of this species as " light buff," which is not 

 correct, or at least not that of C-hannel Island specimens. The colour is 

 deep bottle-green, almost black, with a median line of lighter green down 

 the back. 



Hippolyte varians, Leach. iEsop's Prawn. This pretty and common 

 little crustacean is of more than passing interest as illustrating colour 

 variation. Specimens found among red seaweeds are red, among brown 

 weeds brown, and among green ones green. This condition of things is 

 not uucommon in nature, but in Hippolyte varians when red specimens are 

 jjlaced among green surroundings they change to green with the utmost 



H 



